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GUARDIAN SPIRITS, 



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A CASE OF VISION 



INTO THE 



SPIRITUAL WORLD, 

TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF 

H. WERNER, 
WITH PARALLELS FROM EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, 



BY A. E. FORD. 



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Wo oiofxsvoi elvai n ov ai> ovvuvtcli ditpl^ raZv X € P°^ V ^ a P^ at j npa£eis 51 koI 

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wiS2. Eiiai yap, c5 rrai } jxaX'eZ apovaoi. aXkoi Si ttoWql KOji^Tepoi* 

Plato. Theatetus. 



NEW-YORK: 

PUBLISHED BY JOHN ALLEN, 

139 Nassau- street. 

1847. 



GUARDIAN SPIRITS, 

A CASE OF VISION 

INTO THE 

SPIRITUAL WORLD, 

TRANSLATED FROxll THE GERMAN OF 

H. WERNER, 

WITH PARALLELS FROM EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, 



BY A. E. FORD. 







L£2 'A.9pSl Sr) TTEpLOKOTT&V) jlf) Tig T&V dfJLVtJTUV €7raK0VT] Slffl Se 0V701, 01 oi)SlV 

a\\o oiojievoi uvai y\ ov av Svvovrai d~pl% raiv %epoiv \aPea-dai, npa^eig SI K<xi 
yeviaeis Kal ir a v to doparov ovk diroSe^ojxevoi, ojs iv ovaiag fxepei. 

GEAI. Kat filv Sr), to ^l(JoKfm.T£g, cK^r/povs yt Xiyets'kal avTirvirovs dvdpu)- 
Ttovg. IjO. Eicri yap, <3 irai 7 fiaX'sv ajiovvoi. aXXot Si^oXXol Kopiporspoi. 

Plato. Theatetus. 



NEW-YORK: 



PUBLISHED BY JOHN ALLEN, 

139 Nassau-street. 

1847. 



&" 

s? 



Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1847, 
BY A. E. FORD, 

In the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern District of 
New-York. 



WILLIAM OSBOBN, PRINTER, 
TRIBUNE BUILDINGS. 



\V»* 



PREFACE BY THE TRANSLATOR. 



The following is the title-page in full of the work here trans- 
lated in part from the original German. " Guardian Spirits, or 
Remarkable Cases of Vision by two Seeresses into the Spiritual 
World, as also the Wonderful Restoration by Animal Magnetism 
of a Female ten years dumb, and a Comparative View of all its 
Phenomena hitherto observed. By Henry Werner, Doctor of 
Philosophy, Stuttgart and Tubingen. Printed and published by 
J. G. Cotta, 1839." 

Had it been the object of the translator to support the claims 
of animal magnetism, he could not have done it more effectually 
than by laying before the public a full translation of this volume. 
Summing up as it does, under various heads, the contributions 
made from time to time to this important science, it would have 
conveyed to many, very little aware of it, the fact, that able ob- 
servers in different nations had written on the subject, and that 
their reports of facts were marked by the greatest harmony. It 
would also have afforded a proof that these facts are not only 
surprising by their novelty, but that ;they furnish to thinking 
minds, materials for constructing a deeper and more spiritual sys- 
tem of psychology, than any hitherto generally recognized. The 
Germans have proved themselves deeper thinkers on this subject 
than ourselves, or any of their European neighbors. France 
and England and America, have each its praise for the observa- 
tions they have made in this department of knowledge, and the 
useful applications they have made of it for the cure of disease ; 
but only Germany has produced a Stilling, an Eschenmayer, a 
Gorres, and a Werner. But the object of the translator was 



IV translator's preface. 

not to add another argument in favor of animal magnetism., but 
to make an authentic case of converse with the beings and scenes 
of the spiritual world support the claims of Swedenborg 
as the divinely authorized revelator of the things of that world 
for the use of the New Jerusalem. He avows his object thus 
fully and openly, because he can conceive of no undertaking 
higher or nobler or more blessed, than to arouse the world, if it 
may be done, to the great fact so contradictory to its feelings, its 
maxims and its settled prejudices, that a divine messenger has 
again appeared in the world, and proclaimed truth from Heaven. 
The larger part of the work, consisting of the collected observa- 
tions of others and speculations founded upon them, had no direct 
bearing on this end, and has therefore been omitted. The 
history of the remarkable case witnessed by Werner himself 
alone is given. It is proper however to say, that this is given 
without abridgment or alteration of any kind. So much of 
the preface to the original work as bears upon the case, is also 
prefixed. 

It is hardly necessary to claim for this production the charac- 
ter of being an honest and genuine record of facts. The author 
religiously avers this to be the case, and he is entitled to belief, from 
his literary standing and his sacred character. He has accom- 
panied his narrative with dates and names of places, and though 
he has suppressed all other names of persons but his own, they can 
be a secret only to the more distant public. He proffers additional 
information to those who seek it candidJy, and guarantees that 
it shall be satisfactory. These things are vouchers of honesty, 
and the proof which his work affords of a mind at once acute 
and comprehensive, sets him above the suspicion of having been 
deceived by his subject. Indeed the internal character of the 
work bespeaks its truthfulness. He would be more than a De 
Foe in matters of clairvoyance, who could weave such a multi- 
tude of details relating to natural and spiritual life into such a 
likelihood of reality. It may then be taken as granted by all 
fair and open minds, that the work in question is composed with 
no guileful end, and is in the main a truthful record of actual 
phenomena. There are those indeed, who, simply on the ground 
that the alleged facts are not within the range of their own perso- 
nal observation, and are in themselves incredible, would deny all 
these fair presumptions. The translator has often had to do 



translator's preface. V 

with such in private discussion, and learned their arguments to 
be only a perpetual iteration of the words imagination, collusion, 
deception, humbug, and knows well how unscrupulously they ap- 
ply them to persons of the most unstained reputation for veracity, 
and the most acknowledged powers of observing and discrimi- 
nating. The difficulty in these cases, he has come to the firm 
conclusion, lies sometimes in intellectual straitness, but more 
often in moral aversion to a subject which has high and spiritual 
bearings, or may overturn a favorite scheme of religion. These 
hopeless battles he is not disposed to fight over again on paper. Such 
persons must even be left to force their theories of collusion and 
deception where they fit neither with character nor circumstances, 
to stretch or truncate as suits them best, and enjoy their Procrus- 
tean glory to themselves. 

A strong argument in favor of Swedenborg, arises from com- 
paring his account of the spiritual world with those furnished 
from this source. The translator has endeavored in the present 
work to set out this argument, by citing as briefly as possible 
those passages in which Swedenborg exhibits such a coincidence. 
The number of such passages must be deemed remarkable, and 
yet this by no means adequately represents the harmony intended 
to be brought out ; for this lies as well in the general represen- 
tation, as in particulars. Some have been purposely left out, not 
to swell the volume, and others doubtless have been overlooked ; 
and it may be added, there is scarcely one point on which the 
two even seem to clash. 

With regard to this agreement, two remarks may be made. 
The first is, that it extends to a vast variety of particulars. The 
disclosures of the seeress relate to the nature of the soul and its 
constitution in three parts, whereof the highest has a peculiar 
relation to the Divine — to its connection with the body--to its 
separation from it in a manner which is not death, and the inde- 
pendent exercise of its powers in that state — to its abode for 
some time after death, in an intermediate state — to its being re- 
ceived by angels at death, and being subsequently instructed by 
them — to the human race as inhabiting not only this world, 
but others — to the condition of things in the spiritual world of the 
Moon, of the Sun and of the planet Venus — to the human race 
as inhabiting all material worlds, and forming after death a 



vi translator's preface. 

heaven in common — to angels, their ranks, their employments, 
their speech, their writings, and their exemption from the laws 
of space and time — to the external scenery of heaven, as con" 
taining every thing that enters into an earthly landscape — and to a 
large number of miscellaneous particulars besides. The details 
under these general heads are in many cases quite numerous. 
Throughout this whole account of invisible things, there is an 
agreement with Swedenhorg; and this agreement, therefore, is 
striking for its extent. It is also — and this constitutes our second 
remark — striking for its nice, incidental and obviously undesigned 
character. The two reports from the land of secrets are by 
independent observers, each with a different mode of looking at 
and describing what is subjected to the view — the one looking at 
the surface and describing from it, the other diving deeper and 
developing laws. And they agree accordingly sometimes al- 
most in expression ; at others, in substance ; and at others, im- 
plying, the one in a mere hint, what the other dwells upon and 
amplifies. This last species of coincidence has always been 
held a proof of veracity which the utmost efforts of contrivance 
cannot compass. Instances of it, it is almost needless to ob- 
serve, abound in the following pages. 

Now, before the reader is asked for his inference from all this, 
let him be further informed, that Swedenborg knew nothing of 
what is popularly called clairvoyance or animal magnetism. 
It was ten years after Swedenborg's death, and forty after he 
began those writings in which he embodied his accounts of 
unseen things, before the attention of the world was called to 
the general subject by Mesmer. Clairvoyance was observed 
for the first time subsequently to Mesmer's own period, and 
spiritual vision still later. Swedenborg had no light then, such 
as one might have in these times, for drafting his plan of the 
spiritual world. If not drawn from a real intromission into its 
wonders, it must of course have been the pure production of his 
own brain, excogitated under the impulses of fraud or of enthu- 
siasm. Such is the view which the world, contenting itself with 
hearing and not reading, have in effect quietly adopted. It is of 
course a view highly disputable, on such grounds, as the great 
and sound and sober mind of its author, his solemn affirmations 
of his mission, and the consistency that reigns throughout the 



translator's preface. vii 

vast extent of a scheme that embraces, heaven, earth, hell, na- 
ture, spirit, and the Word. But setting these aside, what is to 
be said of this view, when such a case as the present comes up ? 
Are not its maintainers called upon to show how Swedenborg 
could have raved or invented, in such admirable harmony with 
subsequent and independent disclosures through the medium of 
clairvoyance ? A traveller professes to have visited a distant land, 
but brings back such statements about its climate, productions 
and people, that he gains the character of retailing mere fables 
which he had put together without having quit his study. Some 
half century after his death, one who scarcely ever heard his 
name, makes a similar report of the same things. A check is 
instantly given to the opinions taken up concerning the first tra- 
veller ; and he is re-instated in his good name, just in proportion, 
as it is certain that the second traveller did not copy from him. 
If this single point be ascertained, they then corroborate one 
another ; and granting that neither was credible, per se, they are 
credible conjointly. Let Swedenborg have the benefit of this 
just mode of reasoning. Call his splendidly consistent fabric, in 
which the Bible, the truths of history, of science, and of human 
nature are woven into beautiful order, if you have so little 
perception of internal evidences, mere dream and vagary ; call it 
so, while it stands alone — but when witnesses arise in after 
times, who know him not, or hold him as you do, and yet corrob- 
orate him — then pause, and ask yourself, whether God may not 
be vindicating, in the wonderful ways of his Providence, a servant 
whom He sent with heavenly wisdom in his lips, after an insane 
and blinded world for generations has called him mad. 

But after all, this book is prepared and wished to operate, not 
as a positive, still less as a conclusive argument for Sweden- 
borg's divine mission. That has other, higher, and more appro- 
priate grounds, as the final basis of conviction. It is offered only 
as a presumptive argument, that he may possibly be true, and 
that the matter ought to be looked into. It is addressed to that 
desperate prejudice, having no better foundation than a saying 
passed round from mouth to mouth, or copied one from another 
into theological and biographical dictionaries, that Swedenborg 
was a dreamer. It merely wishes to suggest that this judgment 
was perhaps pronounced without trial had, or at least by judges 



viii 

translator's preface. 

ence come to light, for a re-examination of the case. 

"lent, when to^^^*? ° n ^ ° f im P art ^ «•*■ 

iust setting ro rt h y «f te I^ e P ^7?r^ , ^ £* 

work wil] nnf k« •*!. . Mi * ul v • it is trusted that this 

wMe^;i\r;tanTe;Cir larly for the *** ° f the iand - 

to know the tru h TtTs he s ? "T^ C ° nCern ' t0 Seek and 
serve the interests of sol, * PeC " Ilar manner - ° thers ™b- 

gious verities before the £Z a ml "S £ ^ UP **" 
exercised in iiscHu^X^LJ^^ T '° 0m 
be the first in detecting truth whlerbl? ^ ' they aPe t0 

it error-to take it bv th h'Zl . V? eun h,nkln & world yet calls 

men-to bringTout f ro m „ T / * ^ "^ amo1 * 
on the lives and th/r g ^ Iep ™ Ch > that h m W *eU 
hereafter It" a ic e a „ P o P M eSS ,r fS ° me ^ ™ d ° f * 

^i^^JlTel^LT^ ^ his present 

of the spirituafeuWe r^ , g J' gSW " hit, ' ntothemind 
.ected /Or %£ Z^^/Z^J^^Z 

ren and a mi „, Wc S S J T' ^ ClericaI breth " 

thought ofS T„ 1 ^ ^ " lndined t0 some heresy is a 
-for th« , , ', , a CaSe ' there is no reaI ] ove of truth 
mLlt 2 „° , 9 to" I"' 868 f 0V : a " °*« — WerationJ S 
fessed, of t to "ccoun ^ ", t ^ ** k ^ and P»" 
stead of lo ; ;° JJj* t e ^ tended -'i g iou s guide in- 
K out lor the best ways in which to lead those 



translator's PREFACE. IX 

who trust him, is only seeking those that are most accustomed ? 
most safe and easy to himself. 

Yet it is a melancholy reflection, that if a man is willing to be 
such a guide, he will have enough to influence. He makes pro- 
fession of having truth for his object,, and he receives that same 
credit for skill in his peculiar calling, which the physician and 
the advocate receive. And indeed in a higher degree ; for great 
is the power of profession, when conveyed in the solemn phra- 
ses and the earnest gestures of the pulpit. They attach a certain 
sacredness to all that is uttered, and so it is no secret to any pastor 
in the land, that he has many who pay an unquestioning defe- 
rence to his words, and whose minds he can turn as it pleases 
him upon disputuble points within his own denomination, or bias 
favorably to any new opinions, 

Now it is seriously and affectionately asked, that in conside- 
ration of the character and office in which they hold themselves 
forth, and of their actual power over individual and general 
opinion, the clergy of the different denominations of the land 
will deal in honesty with the claims of the New Church. The ap- 
peal is made, it may be feared, in vain to the great body of them ; 
they will still put themselves blindfold under such guidance as 
they give to others, taking their impressions from the partisan 
works of those who have acquired a literary reputation among 
themselves, and reposing unlimited faith in the plausible mendaci- 
ties of religious journals. But there is a smaller number, to whom 
Swedenborg has perhaps already recommended himself, by some 
of those deep things in his writings, which are sure to lay hold of 
thinking and benevolent and open minds, or who, in various 
ways, have had a vehement doubt suggested to them whether 
he is the dreamer the world has set him down for, and his 
followers the dupes and enthusiasts they are called. Of such 
it is asked, and asked hopefully, that they will brace up what- 
ever there is of independent truth in their natures, and give this 
most important subject an investigation for themselves — let the 
world say what it will, and follow it if true — let every worldly 
interest suffer as it may. Let such recur to their own sermons. 
If they have ever preached that all truth is of God, and inesti- 
mable in value, that it is cheaply purchased with the loss of 
every thing dear in an earthly point of view, and if followed in 

1* 



X . TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 

holy living is eternal felicity, if they have ever pleaded with any 
one for a fair examination or their own doctrines and urged the 
loss and danger of closing the ears to all which has not flowed 
into them within the walls of one's own church, and the certain 
sterility of a close and bigoted and denominational cast of mind ; let 
them acknowledge that such noble maxims are not merely for deal- 
ing forth with the momentary elevationof the pulpit ; but for down- 
right and, if need be, painful practice, and so give to the solemn 
question whether the New Jerusalem is descending from God out 
of Heaven into our wretched world, the right of being heard by 
itself instead of its enemies, and of being weighed with balances 
into which name and interest shall not be thrown. 

It is to the cultivated, who are at the same time good, espe- 
cially to such among the clergy, that Swedenborg makes his ap- 
peal — if that can be called an appeal, which is a statement im- 
pressive by its very calmness, that the clergy will be the first to 
admit the truths of the New Jerusalem, and that they will be fol- 
lowed by the laity. Should not this have its weight ? Is it not 
prima facie proof that his doctrine is widely separate from the ig- 
norant fanaticisms with which it suits some to confound it ? For 
let the enthusiast or fanatic be pointed out, who has not manifest- 
ed an instinctive aversion to the settled clergy of the church, or, 
after a feeble effort to proselyte them, sunk down into low decla- 
mation against them. Another use may be made of such passa- 
ges. They are predictions, which, to some extent, have already 
been verified. In the leaven-like progress which the New 
Church has hitherto had, the clergy of one and another denomi- 
nation have been its first converts, the laity following them. 
Such has been the case in England, where instances have been 
even more frequent of secession from the established church than 
from among dissenters. There have been many cases of this 
kind, in this country, within a short period prst. The laity will 
doubtless follow in due proportion, but the clergy are as yet in 
the lead. Now that the New Church, were it only a new fangled 
superstition, would exercise its proselyting powers least and last 
of all, on minds which have been trained in the use of the dis- 
criminating and reflective faculties, and are commonly tinctured 
with a strong repugnance to novelties, is manifest enough, and, 
when minds of this stamp (to say nothing of the nobler qualities 
of the heart, which some at least of these proselytes display) are 



translator's preface. xi 

found accepting it, is there not a presumption, despite the world's 
cry to the contrary, that it has more than dream and vagary to 
build upon ? While some, a few it is granted in comparison of 
the whole number, are found going forth from the position where 
custom, education, settled persuasions, interest, and friendly re- 
monstrances united to keep them — persons never before suspected 
of an unbalanced mind, shall it convey to those who stay behind 
no suspicion that they have seen cogent truth ? Shall their sol- 
emn averment that they can justify themselves on the most solid 
grounds from the charge of enthusiasm, if a day is appointed 
them, pass for nothing? Surely not Honest men will not set 
these affirmations aside, coming in some instances, as they do, 
from those they did not disdain to be taught by in former times — 
in others, from their familiars and acquaintances — as things to be 
expected of course from those who have fallen into delusions. 
They will be regarded, in all fairness, as calls for a direct exami- 
nation of the subject, and will be listened to. 

Nothing in the shape of religious truth, that comes respectably 
recommended, should be turned away without a hearing, much 
less the solemn allegations made in the case under consideration- 
The New Church is diverse from all the denominations of Chris- 
tendom ; the very charge against it is, that it varies from them all 
in matters of the first moment, which all had regarded as settled, 
and introduces novelties of the gravest character. If these are 
errors, the world is right in calling them pernicious errors ; but 
if they are truths, they are truths of corresponding moment; and 
just so far as there is a presumption that they may be such, will 
be the desire of the truth— seeking to know how the case really 
is. Look once at the momentous allegations that are in question. 
The claim is put forth, that the most glorious prediction of the 
Bible is fulfilled in our days ; that another messenger has come 
from Heaven, not indeed to add to the inspired word, but to show 
that it is inspired in a sense worthy of the term ; that he has, as 
the highest point of his commission, developed in a manner not 
arbitrary but on grounds that convince the understanding, a spi- 
ritual sense in every part of the Scriptures, not excepting their sim- 
plest narrative, or the dryest catalogue of names — that this sense 
demonstrates how the three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which 
are commonly named Persons, are all in, and constituent princi- 



xii translator's preface. 

pies of, the Lord Jesus Christ, making Him the sole God of Heaven 
and of earth; that he has built on this spiritual sense a system of 
beautifully symmetrical doctrine, harmonizing with true science 
in all its branches, and finally, disclosed from his own observation 
the state of those two opposite worlds, in which the human race will 
exist to eternity, having been admitted to survey them for this very 
purpose. These allegations, to which many thinking and pious 
men have set their seals, will not, by the class to whom these con- 
siderations are addressed, be turned out of doors. Too much of 
the welfare of society, too much of eternal consequence, hangs by 
them, to allow of any rash and presumptuous determination. 

If any one when solicited to this just and reasonable course is 
disposed to turn away, he is not likely thereby to escape the matter. 
If it be from God — a point he cannot intelligently negative previous 
to examination — then it must prevail. But on other grounds, no 
one runs a risk in foretelling that the whole subject is to come into 
general discussion. The issue is made up. its friends are confident 
though calm ; it has advocates able both with the pen and the 
tongue ; it is winning more respect and exciting more hostility 
every day ; that respect is deepening with some into attachment ; 
that hostility is becoming more and more a medium to it, first of 
notice, then of acquaintance, and finally of firm adhesion. So it 
has been thus far, and it is lawful to read the future in the past. 
It will one day invade the most sacred premises of those who now 
regard it with contempt as a distant, unaggressive monstrosity. 
How will it be met, then, in complete ignorance of its nature and 
its claims ? Doubtless with such modes of warfare, as unreason- 
ing prejudice, and an ignorance that loves itself have always pur- 
sued. It will be named dire, heretical, blasphemous. It will be 
calumniated, that it may be condemned. A counterfeit likeness 
will be set up, that the " sharp sword" which would shiver to frag- 
ments against the true, may seem to hew it in pieces, and poisoned 
arrows will be drawn from religious journals, as from so many ar- 
mories of the false, and let fly at it ; but for all this, the truth will 
live on indestructible. It will be found that this is no tree, which, 
at the biire words, " be thou removed," will be plucked up and cast 
into the sea ; but rather — if the members of the New Church are not 
mistaken in claiming for it that glorious promise — the stone cutout 
without hands, growing into a mountain and filling the whole earth. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 



When animal magnetism, some years ago, began to emerge 
from unmerited oblivion and neglect in Germany, and found new 
champions for its cause in my native country also, I, as well as 
the rest, heard with astonishment the wonderful facts every where 
related concerning female somnambulists. 

Not imagining that there could be a second and hitherto un- 
enlightened side of psychology, confined within the narrow limits 
of the philosophy of the day, actuated also by the shame of being 
the only believer among thousands, I seized, before any proper in- 
vestigation on my part, with eagerness and a preconceived con- 
viction that the phenomena of magnetism were mere delusions, 
chiefly upon publications against it. Of course I soon took my 
stand among the ranks of the decided unbelievers. From this 
time I took little notice more of the subject, wondering within 
myself, that men of distinguished name in the realms of science, 
should be the patrons of a thing which, in my opinion, was little 
more than a new prop and source for all kinds of superstition and 
delusion. 

These views received the first hard shock some fifteen years 
ago, in the following manner. I was at that time pastor in 
Bickelsberg at Sultz on the Rhine, and received quite unexpect- 
edly from my father at Tubingen, information that a somnambu- 
list, a girl not yet fourteen years of age, whom I knew but had 
not seen for several years, was under the care of Professor Es- 
chenmayer there, and had declared that my presence with her 
for a few days would contribute essentially to her restoration. 



XIV PREFACE. 

More from curiosity than because I expected to be of the least 
benefit to her health, I set off without delay for Tubingen, without 
announcing to any one there my purpose, or even the day on 
which I might be looked for. It was winter, and I arrived after 
seven o'clock in the morning. I was unable, by reason of some 
hindrances to be mentioned presently, to reach the house in which 
the girl resided, before eight. Scarcely had she seen me, as I 
opened the door of her chamber, before she fell into violent cramps 
and convulsions, w r hich so affected me, that I stood in the middle 
of the apartment as if rooted to the spot. In a few minutes, she 
spoke to me, her eyes being shut, " Leave me, I beg of you, a 
short time ; your presence just now is too trying to me ; return 
again in half an hour, I shall then be more quiet. Do you be so 
also ; your soul is in such agitation, that I suffer from it." I took 
my departure, and, as I was informed, immediately thereupon, 
she awoke soon after my leaving the chamber. In the course of 
half an hour I entered her chamber a second time. I was more 
composed, and she also welcomed me in a calm and friendly man- 
ner, and bade me sit by the bed-side. In a minute or two, she 
closed her eyes, took my hand, and said : " You are sick ; but I 
know a remedy that will relieve you." On my desiring her to 
name it, she broke out into lamentations and tears, and said after 
some time, laying her hand upon the pit of my stomach : " You 
are subject to cramps here ; but I may not tell you the remedy 
for it. Just as I am on the point of pronouncing it, I am stopped 
I know not how. It is as if a voice called to me : he is not to be 
healed in this way ! Alas, what grief this gives me ! You 
affect me so beneficially, and I am not permitted to show my gra- 
titude to you for it as I desire. How gladly would I help you !" 
Gentle and delicate as was this refusal, it was plainly not calcu- 
lated to strengthen my belief, that she knew the remedy which 
would relieve me. She might have known beforehand that I had 
been suffering for some time, especially in the abdomen, with 
cramps ; and so far, I saw nothing in this scene but an earnest 
sympathy and a highly excited imagination. But I was quickly 
shown my mistake, when, after sleeping quietly for a quarter of 
an hour, she said all at once to my great astonishment : " You 
were deceived this morning in your expectations." What do you 
mean ? " You came as far as Balingen in a sleigh ; there (smi- 



PREFACE. XV 

ling) the sleighing lasted no longer, and you were compelled to 
take a stage." This was really the case, and I had as yet spoken 
to no one in Tubingen of the circumstance. After a while she 
proceeded : " In Heckingen you fell in with a relation who was 
on his way to visit you in B. You saw one another at the post- 
house without a recognition." The fact was indeed so. I had 
not seen my cousin in years ; the glance which I threw upon 
him in passing, however, showed me something familiar in his 
face, and I asked the post-woman, who attended him to his car- 
riage, when she returned, whether she knew the gentleman who 
had just driven off. Yes, she replied, he is a merchant of Hanau, 
by the name of Z. Ha ! I exclaimed, where is he going ? See- 
ing me so much interested, the woman looked at me more closely 
and asked, " Are you not the pastor of B. ?" On my replying in 
the affirmative, she said to me : " He is going expressly to visit 
you." When I returned home, my wife told me that my cousin 
Z., who was on a journey to Switzerland, called to see me, and 
regretted much that he had not found me at home. 

What the somnambulist said on the following day no less 
passed my comprehension. " Yesterday evening you had al- 
most met with an accident in the suburbs ; your grey horse 
made a spring and came very near throwing you into the water." 
This was true to the letter. Not far from the so-called Wald- 
hornle, a hotel standing by itself close to the road-side, about 
half a league from Tubingen, there were some newly quarried 
large white mill-stones with holes in the middle, lying on the 
right beyond a turn in the road. The moon was shining and 
made the white of the stones more conspicuous. My horse, 
whose color was really a grey, was trotting, and coming sudden- 
ly in sight of the stones, as he made the turn, he started, sprang 
suddenly to the left, and almost precipitated the vehicle into the 
small stream called the Steinlach, which at that time ran close 
to the road. She also added : " I saw you yesterday pass the 
Neckar-Gate after seven, but you did not reach the house before 
eight, because a drunken postillion detained you." The matter 
stood thus : I was driving quietly along between the Wald- 
hornle and the city, towards Tubingen, along the high-way 
where three vehicles could easily, if need were, avoid a collision. 
All at once I heard a cursing and shouting behind, and directly 
the blows of a whip began to fall upon my covered vehicle. I 



XVI PREFACE. 

was soon satisfied that I was set upon by a drunken post-man 
who drove a two horse mail- wagon, and who had taken it into his 
head that I was bound to get out of his way, as being the king's 
messenger, although in my covered carriage I could not see him, 
nor, for the noise of the wheels, hear him either. I settled the 
matter with the coarse fellow as well as I could at the mo- 
ment, followed him, stopped at the post-house where he did, lodg- 
ed a complaint against him there for his insolence, and in conse- 
quence was detained for some time. Of this occurrence also I 
had not spoken a word to any one in the house ; the girl of 
course could by no possibility have gained a knowledge of it in 
the usual way. These declarations, and similar ones which I do 
not adduce because not heard from herself but from other 
(though highly credible) ear witnesses, while they brought my 
understanding to a state of suspension, had of necessity the ef- 
fect of shaking my unbelief to its very foundations. Unaccount- 
able as were the phenomena, they had yet actually taken place 
before my senses, and I concluded finally, what I should have 
done long before, to hear the other side and then to come to a con- 
clusion. I would have given much to have had it in my power to 
be longer with the invalid and observe her ; but my affairs called 
me, after two days, home again. Before setting out, (my faith be- 
ing somewhat advanced by selfish regards,) I requested Professor 
Eschenmayer, who had the girl under his care, and to whom I 
had communicated my case in detail, to ask her in the next crisis 
about the remedy adapted to it. He kindly consented. I accom- 
panied him to the patient, who knew nothing of this promise, 
and when, on being put in relation with him she fell asleep, he 
mentioned to her my wish in reference to my malady ; where- 
upon she replied immediately, with some dissatisfaction : " It 
seems I am to prescribe for the Reverend Pastor; but I have 
already told him that I am not at liberty to help him." Accord- 
ingly I set off without having the remedy communicated, (a happy 
circumstance for me,) but cured at least of my obstinate unbelief, 
and firmly resolved to enter the domain of animal magnetism 
with a more impartial mind, and to inform myself in it to the 
best of my abilities. I did so from that time as well as I was 
able, though for many years the wish that I might have it in my 
power to observe and treat a somnambulist myself, remained un- 
satisfied. But this wish was at length gratified, and the result 



PREFACE. XV11 

of my observations made on that occasion, as also of my ex- 
periences and convictions from other quarters regarding animal 
magnetism, composes the following pages. And now some fur- 
ther remarks, necessary by way of preparation, relating to the 
personal history and the treatment of the somnambulist who 
plays a part in the following pages, as also to the theoretical out- 
lines annexed to the narrative. 

R. D., a girl eighteen years of age, concerning whose personal 
and family affairs I am ready to give the most satisfactory infor- 
mation to any one who desires it and has any just occasion for 
knowing them, was born in A., a small village of Upper Suabia, 
and brought up in a simple manner until her fourteenth year, 
before which she had passed happily through the usual diseases 
of children. She was quite weakly, particularly as regarded 
her nervous system. So early as her seventh year the physi- 
cians were apprehensive of an enlargement of the mesenteric 
glands. In her eighth and ninth, she had chlorosis and whooping- 
cough, and in her eleventh a violent attack of the erysipelas in 
the face. From that time to her fourteenth year she was 
healthy. The catamenia then made their appearance, and with 
them an eruption of the skin over her whole body. Probably 
this was not well understood, as to its nature, and the importance 
which it had in that crisis of the system, and so, from want of 
proper treatment, was suddenly checked, causing a swelling of 
the lower limbs. This affection lasted about a year. The feet 
were covered with deep sores, which discharged copiously, heal- 
ed slowly and left behind deep scars. Withal the catamenia had 
never been regular from their first appearance. In her sixteenth 
year, they had quite disappeared and only returned at the end of 
six months, and then with many inconveniences, particularly 
with oppressions of the chest. They never afterwards returned 
at the usual period, but often in three or four up to seven and 
eight weeks. These alternations went on till her eighteenth 
year, at which time a deep mental sorrow was added to these 
physical sufferings, and one the more oppressive, as she looked 
upon the cause of it as destroying forever her whole earthly 
happiness, and she had given up all hope of a favorable change 
in her destiny. It is easily to be seen how such a state of mind 
must re-act upon the bodily health, and that it may have con- 
tributed not a little, if not to bring about, yet to hasten on and 



XViU PREFACE. 

aggravate the condition described in the following pages. 
(Compare the crisis of the 13th June.) As regards her spiritual 
character, a highly simple education in the country had laid for 
it a very favorable foundation. Possessed of many happy men- 
tal endowments, she raised and enobled her faculties by reading 
and refined conversation ever more and more from her fourteenth 
year, when her family removed into a larger provincial city ; 
her quick comprehension, her accurate judgment, her natural 
aptness for the better, and especially her religious convictions 
contributing materially to her advancement. She cultivated to 
a high degree, her taste for music and especially for singing. 
Music was among her favorite amusements. Her soft melodious 
voice gave a peculiar charm to her songs, characterized as they 
were by an easy style, by purity and feeling. 

As regards the morbid state, which prepared the way for the 
magnetic one, the following must here be added : 

R. had suffered since October, 1833, with periodical cramps in 
the breast, which by degrees became more violent and, after va- 
rious remedies had been tried in vain, reached such a height 
that turns of suffocation came on, lasting indeed but a short time, 
but calculated to create much apprehension. From October, 
1833, till the end of February, 1834, the cramps had returned 
only at intervals of from eight to ten days ; during the month of 
March, they came on every three or four days, and left behind 
great prostration and fatigue. Her strength failed visibly-— her 
complexion was yellow and pale, except occasionally when a 
transitory heat of the head kindled her face to a burning red. 
The appetite was irregular, the pulse for the most part was hard 
and small, even out of the attack, and her feelings peevish and ex- 
citable. The catamenia were always attended with such severe 
cramps and pains in the abdomen, that the patient was compelled, 
each time, to remain a day or two in bed, and the cause and its con- 
sequences did not generally disappear entirely before the seventh 
day. In general the cramps did not return for several days after 
this, whereas before, they followed in quick succession and with 
increasing violence. That her mood should change easily — that 
cheerful at one moment, she should often, without external oc- 
casioil, become sad, frequently even melancholy and petulant, will 
appear a matter of course in such a state of bodily and mental 



PREFACE. XIX 

suffering. A certain excitability and quickness of temper, which, 
with her best efforts she could not control, seems to have been 
a consequence of her weakliness from an early age, and of the 
oppression of her soul towards the last. 

As her friends were convinced that internal remedies not only 
failed to relieve her bodily sufferings but rather aggravated them, 
she resolved at last to give up medicines entirely, hoping that 
the powers of nature would find the means of recovery when 
thus left to operate unhindered and alone. She was not disap- 
pointed, although the particular turn which nature took was not 
in the least anticipated, either by herself or those who felt an in- 
terest in her. 

It may also be observed, that the girl, before she became mag- 
netic hereself, had so little idea of the possibility of such a 
state, that when no further doubt could remain as to the nature 
of her attacks, she listened with great astonishment in the 
waking state to such phenomena — asked to have them explained 
to her, and at first, declared even that she felt a kind of horror at 
herself when she thought of all she heard about her attacks be» 
ing real. 

This is a true sketch of the girl whose case is related in the 
following pages. I have not withheld it from the public, for the 
reason that it contains much, which although it is not new, may 
further the cause of science. Well ascertained facts con- 
tribute greatly to a sure knowledge of animal magnetism ; and 
again, the phenomena are those of spontaneous somnambulism, 
a state which, as being the most natural form of magnetism, 
and at the same time the most uncommon, is deserving of special 
notice. The less sought and expected it was, on the part both 
of the patient and myself, so much the more surprising was it 
to find ourselves all at once in magnetic relation. The circum- 
stance was first cleared up to me in some measure, by a subse- 
quent declaration of the somnambulist, that my nervous system 
had been long predisposed, by continued cramps of the stomach, 
to complete sympathy with any somnambulist. That the occur- 
rence of the magnetic phenomena in the present instance was 
unsought, and that they were never, as they might have been, 
exalted and made more interesting by artificial operating, allows 
me to hope that my readers will believe me when I assure them, 



XX PREFACE. 

that the narrative as here given has been kept free from all 
foreign and impure admixtures, and that the words of the sub- 
ject are those which were faithfully taken down from her lips, 
with the exception only of such matters as were not suited to the 
public eye. 

To give the names of the witnesses present at the attacks met 
with some objections on their part, though they are all ready, in 
case of any reasonable demand, to give satisfactory information 
respecting all that took place in their presence and which they 
saw and heard. 

As for experiments with the patient, strong as was the temp- 
tation from motives of humane or scientific curiosity, they were 
few, and in every instance only such as were required by herself, 
or such as I knew before-hand would not be of the least prejudice 
to her health. 

The conversations about departed spirits and the state after 
death, although she sometimes found herself affected by them, 
she for the most part desired herself, or else broke them off when 
they began to hurt her. I should have been glad very often to 
have questioned her still farther, and in general to have con- 
versed with her on many very important subjects relating to the 
state of souls after death, especially as she once declared, that 
with little trouble on my part she could be raised to an equal 
degree of clairvoyance with the Seeress of Prevorst. But my ob- 
ject, which was the restoration of her health in the shortest pos- 
sible period, always repelled these wishes at once ; and after she 
had happily recovered, I rejoiced that I had no occasion to re- 
proach myself on this score. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

April 2, 1834. 



The cramps in the breast, mentioned in the introduction, 
which of late had not only appeared almost daily, but had lasted 
longer than formerly, came on to-day at nine in the morning, 
with unusual violence. Hitherto the symptoms had been confined 
to a difficulty of breathing greater or less, to cramp in the muscles 
of the neck, and sharp pains through the breast ; but now, to the 
great terror of the by-standers, the breathing, after the usual at- 
tack, had continued for a few minutes but with unusual violence, 
ceased entirely, the face became pale, the arms moved convul- 
sively, the whole body jerked, and the feet, after quivering 
strongly, became rigid. Great as was the terror which seized 
those present, (my brother, my wife and sister,) at this surprising 
occurrence, their astonishment was yet greater, when the pa- 
tient, who had been conveyed to the sofa, all at once began to 
speak with her eyes shut. " Thanks be to God !" she exclaimed, 
slowly and solemnly, and with uplifted arms. Her features 
meanwhile had changed in a striking manner, and greatly to her 
advantage. As was the case in all the subsequent crises, they 
had far more spirituality and expression than in the waking 
state. Her cheeks had also gradually regained their color. In 
a short time, she folded her hands upon her breast, and repeated : 
" Thanks be to God ! In what a glorious, resplendent and beau- 
tiful state do I find myself I" 



22 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

She did not reply to the question of my sister, M.,* how she 
felt, but broke out, after she had spoken, into the most lively ex- 
pressions of joy, and into the words : " Ah ! you — you also are 
with me ?" And now she turned her eyes, which in the mean 
time she had half opened, with a quick and friendly smile to 
my sister, looked at her fixedly, and said to her : " You are 
good — oh, so good ! I love you dearly !" My wife also and my 
brother C, whom she had not hitherto observed, she saw after 
some time, and said of them : " C. and R. (my wife) are all 
bright and shining like you, M." (After a pause) : " Ah ! you 
too, I am allowed to see, H ?f and you are bright, also— but — 
but — (slowly, as if she could not find words for what she wished 

to express) — H. is ; it is singular — it is as though I saw 

him through gauze. It is not so with you ; I see you quite 
clear." (After a longer pause) : " If I could only see my father 
too, how it would rejoice me ! You could fetch him, surely, M., 
and will do it ?" Upon my sister's replying that her father was 
many leagues distant, and that her wish could not possibly be 
gratified, she became sad and said : " Ah ! I would it were pos- 
sible for me to see him ; I love him so much ; he had so much to 
suffer. " Suddenly she said : " Ah, now I see him,J and my sister 
C. with him ; how glad I am!" At last, she saw my sister L. 
in R., and said of her: " She too is good; she looks fair and 
friendly." Between the expressions thus made by R. in this first 
imperfect crisis, there occurred several intervals, in which she 
was apparently in a state of full wakefulness, and in which she 
frequently said in a complaining tone and with a mournful 
look, " Ah, here it is all so gloomy !" This natural state 
however would last only a few minutes, and thereupon 



* The name of my sister, as well as of the subject, begins with R. To 
avoid mistakes from the somnambulists being indicated by this letter, I 
chose another for my sister. 

t H. (Henry) is the name of myself, the author During this first crisis 
I was in another place, two leagues distant from the patient. 

X " If any one (in the spiritual world) think of another from affection, 
and earnestly desire to see him and speak with him, he forthwith stands 
before him."— D. P. 50. ^ 

This and several other passages are cited from Swedenborg, and con«y 
sidered apposite, on the ground that the somnambulist was, in some mea- 
sure, in the condition of a disembodied spirit, and of course subject to the 
laws which govern the spiritual world. See her own statement to this 
effect, post. — Tr. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 23 

she would return to her higher state. After she had lain 
in this way for an hour and a half quiet and motionless, with the 
exception of the above expressions, her breathing scarcely per- 
ceptible, and her eyes all the time half closed, her hands and 
then her arms and legs began all at once to tremble. Soon 
there came on more violent jerkings and agitations of the whole 
body, lasting some minutes, with short interruptions. At length 
she fetched a deep breath, as if sighing, and waked up. She 
looked around in surprise, asked what had happened to her, and 
smiled incredulously when the facts, of which she had not the 
slightest recollection, were told her. For the rest, she felt well 
and stronger. 

The fifth of April 

The two days following the first attack passed with tolerable 
comfort. Pains or visible cramps did not come on, but on the 
other hand, the feelings of the patient were deeply affected. She 
wept much without being able to assign any particular reason 
for it, spoke of being weary of life, and could in no way be cheered 
up. 

On the fifth of April, in the afternoon, she was attacked with 
oppression of the chest and neck ; her breathing soon became 
short, difficult and rattling, her face dark and swollen, and when 
some turns of suffocation were past, during which she had been 
laid upon the sofa, the convulsive agitations described in the first 
attacks came again on with increased violence, and after lasting 
about eight minutes, were succeeded by a universal rigidity. The 
breath and the pulse were scarcely perceptible, the face became 
pale as death, and the features those of one dying. In this state 
I took her hand, and had scarcely done so when her whole body 
moved convulsively, her face cleared up, her color returned, and 
she said, with a quick manner while holding my hand : " Ah, you 
are here ? this is kind, very kind. Give me your hand, I pray, 
Albert !" Do you see me then with your eyes shut ? — " Just 
now I only see your hand shining clearly ; but I shall see you 
soon all over." How do you see me ? " With my hand ; but in 
what way I cannot tell you. You are with me and I feel it." 
Who am I then ? Did you not pronounce just now the name of 



24 HISTORY OF THE CASE. ' 

Albert? (She smiles.) « That is a singular question. You 
are Albert, and that is your name." You mistake ; I am not 
.Albert, nor am I so called ; my name is Henry, as you well know. 
J \T^ me .f urself > but * moment since, that your name 
was Albert. I did not say so, you are certainly mistaken. Who 
is the Albert you speak of? (She thinks awhile.) "Ah, you 
are right, I was mistaken. lam still half in your world, and a 
moment ago could not rightly see how the matter really stood. 
Yes, you are a different being from Albert. I did not see you, 
because your life and Albert's life are united. I cannot explain 
tins to you now, I will do so hereafter; at present I am still too 
shor^ghted." Do you not recognize me then by my voice, 
which is so familiar to you ? « I hear your words indeed, but 
not m the usual way, through the air by means of the ear.* 
The reason of this I cannot now see very clearly." You spoke 
a little before, of our world-are you then in a different one from 
this . Yes-as you understand it ; we are all indeed, in the 
same great world, but my soul lives now another life than the 
rest of you and that is to me another world ; which, however, is 
still yours.f It is indeed true, that you cannot look into it at 
present, because your souls are bound." Where then is your 
soul ? << In a glorious region far above the sad earth."} Without 
the limits of its atmosphere ? « Yes, far, far." Is this more 
than twelve leagues high ? « Yes, it extends farther than that." 
Are you in the neighborhood of the moon ? « No, that is there." 
(Pointing downward to the south-west.) Can you not name the 
place where you believe yourself to be ? « I know with certain- 
ty that my soul is not on the earth ; but I cannot describe the 



mMmmm 

man wllh man flows/ ^ in , Q the ■ m eltowU v in * W 6 ** of 

•fhearmg, and moves it from without."-//. *HW8 Y ° rga ' 1 

body r^nJiXtsZ^Zll'iH. &" l ° *" SpMt < while the 



HISTORY OF THE CASE, 25 

place ; I know not why it is so, my eye appears as yet to be too 
dull." 

(As I endeavored to remove my hand which she had hitherto 
held fast, she said with some dissatisfaction.) " That must not 
be, you must not leave me." I do not mean to leave you ; I will 
stay with you. c< Well, but I must have your hand too, which 
does me great good." Are you in the magnetic state? "Yes,^ 
so people call it." How do you know that ? "I see it now, but 
in the waking state I do not understand it." You fell sponta- 
neously into this state ; this is not common. Usually it requires 
an artificial operation on the part of another person to bring it 
about. (Smiling :) " It did not happen quite so spontaneously ;K 
you and your sisters have magnetized me without knowing it ;\) 
neither had I, while awake, any idea of it. Now, I see well how 
it happened. My nerves imbibed from you in the waking state ; 
your nervous system especially operated beneficially upon me." 
Why mine in particular? " I cannot tell at present, but will do 
so hereafter. (After a pause.) Now I have a mind to rest 
without speaking more ; it is best. Only let me keep your hand ; 
sit down at my side." In this way she slept quite composedly 
for three quarters of an hour, after which she became restless, as 
was shown by light twitchings of the arms and face. I asked, 
What makes you so uneasy ? " Some one touched me." My 
sister M. had touched her. (My brother C. now made the same 
experiment, with the like result. She trembled yet more, and 
said :) " That hurts me." (When she was again composed, I 
asked her:) Do you see my wife and my sisters also? "No, I 
see only you. entirely, and Albert ; others I do not see." Yet C. 
is standing right by you ; you ought to see him. " I feel indeed 
a foreign influence, but see no one." (I touched C. with my left 
hand ; all at once she cried out, jerking with her left arm :) " I 
see him now, but not distinctly. But he has a different name in 
my world."* What i§ it? "I cannot yet pronounce it, it is too 
difficult for me." Have you also another name, where you are ? 
"Yes, in the waking state they call me R., but in the upper 
world I am called Felicitas." (A pause, during which she lets 



* In the spiritual world all are named according to the quality of their 
life. Ap.Ex.Q16, 

2 



26 HISTOHY OF THE CASE. 

my hand go, folds her own hands, and prays solemnly. In about 
five minutes :) " Ah ! I am permitted to see you also ? You are 
there, my sister? Yes, it is you, you look like my father."* 
Whom do you see ? " My sister, who died a child, and whom 
I never knew upon earth." (She prays again in silence, her lips 
only moving. After a quarter of an hour :) " Alas ! Now I must 
go back to the dismal earth. My Albert leaves me ; that makes 
me sad." 

(Suddenly she is seized with spasms, and she returned to the 
natural state, with the same symptoms, as long continued, as 
those which ushered in the magnetic one. She awoke after 
having lain in it about two hours, and was greatly astonished to 
find herself lying on the sofa, with all of us about her. All the 
rest of the day -she was uncommonly cheerful and boasted that her 
feelings had not been so comfortable for a long time. 

April the eighth. 
(From 9 to 12 in ihe morning.) 

So early as eight o'clock in the morning, R. complained of 
oppression and sickness at the stomach. In the course of half 
an hour there came on a difficulty of breathing. These two in- 
conveniences alternated till nine. About this time she is attack- 
ed, at first with light, and afterwards, with harder spasms of the 
arms and feet, and the breathing takes place only at increasing in- 
tervals, in violent expirations and rattling inspirations. After a 
struggle lasting for about three minutes, there follows a strong 
cramp-like agitation of every part of the body, continuing perhaps 
eight seconds. To this there succeeds a general calm, the face 
becomes serene, the features assume a heavenly expression, and 
the eyes are turned upwards and half closed. A friendly, quiet 
smile precedes the first question of the patient. " You have 
kept your promise then, my Albert ? That pleases me greatly. 
Are you here — really here ? How happy you make me ! (After 
a pause.) And you have not come alone ? You have brought 



There are two hereditary principles in man ; one derived from the fa- 
ther, the other from the mother; that from the mother is somewhat corpo- 
which in dispersed during regeneration ; but what man derives from 
the father remains to eternity. A, C. 1414. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 27 

a friend with you ? This is kind in you. But you are far more 
glorious than your friend. (A pause.) You have made a jour- 
ney, my Albert ? For you, indeed, there is no such thing as 
distance.* Ah, you were in Bern ? You are administering to 
a sick one there also ?" (A pause, after which I said :) Tell 
me, I pray, who this Albert is of whom you are speaking ? " He 
is my attendant, invisible to me in the waking state, my guar- 
dian spirit.f Oh, you should see him ! I would you could do 
so. Hereafter I shall have it in my power to say more about him. 
At present, ask no more questions about him." Who is with Al- 
bert ? " It is one of his friends ; it is singular, I know him and 
and yet cannot tell who he is. He is called here Amandus." 
You know him ? Is he yet living on the earth ? " No, he is 
dead ; you will learn more of him also hereafter. (A pause of 
half an hour, during which her lips are moving, her features ex- 
press, now seriousness, now attention and reflection, now satis- 
faction and friendliness. After this she says aloud :) " I have 
spoken with Albert ;{ he tells me that I am in the magnetic 
state, and that by sleeping in it I shall be restored. O thanks, 
deep thanks to you, my guardian angel ! You will aid me, and 
help also the dear friend, who stands at my side and will lay his 
hand upon me, to a complete recovery of his health." You are 
to be treated magnetically then ? " Yes." And who is to do 
that ? " You, only you. Your influence upon me is beneficial. 
Albert has found no one in my condition, through whom he could 



* All progressions in the spiritual world are made by changes of the 
state of the interiors, so that progressions are nothing else than changes 
of state. Thus all the angels move ; hence to them there are no distances, 
neither are there spaces, but instead of them states and their changes. — 
H. if H. 192. 

t As soon as infants are baptized, angels are appointed over them, by 
whom they are kept in a state of receiving faith in the Lord ; and as they 
grow up and come to the exercise of their own right and their own reason, 
the guardian angels leave them, and they associate to themselves such 
spirits as make one with their life and faith. — T. C. R. 677. 

I was instructed that with every man there are two angelic spirits at 
his head, by whom the Lord protects men whose office it is to moderate 
and control the evil spirits who approach him, besides various other things 
pertaining to a man's truth and good. — S. D. 3525. 

In general angels of every society are sent to men that they may guard 
them.— if. $ H. 391. . 

t The speech of an angel or a spirit with man is heard as sonorously 
as the speech of a man with a man ; yet it is not heard by others who stand 
near, but by himself alone. — H. ^ -"• 248, 



28 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

work upon me but yourself." I am heartily willing ; but will not 
the magnetic treatment prejudice my health ? You know that I 
have myself only just recovered from a serious complaint, and 
still feel the consequences of it. " No, it will not hurt you in 
the least. You are not to magnetize me in the usual way ; that 
would be hurtful to us both. You are only to lay your hand on 
the pit of my stomach, or where else I direct you." Still I 
am afraid it might not agree with me. When I came in 
contact with you last, I experienced oppression at the 
stomach, fatigue and loss of appetite. Should this continue to 
be the case, there would be good ground for apprehension. " O 
apprehension ! — do not be alarmed. I saw and felt this three 
days ago, and just now spoke with Albert on the subject. He 
can easily relieve these symptoms, and has promised me to do so. 
Do not be concerned. To-day you will experience no incon- 
venience from treating me. You will have an appetite, feel com- 
fortably the whole day, and sleep well at night." How can Al- 
bert bring this about ? " He says, that you must indeed supply 
the power necessary to my treatment ; but that he will directly 
make good to you from his own vital force what flows from you 
— that he could not operate immediately upon my nerves, al- 
ready too excitable — that the attempt would be fatal to me." 
But how does it happen that his vital power can flow into me 
with impunity, when my own nervous system, too, is by no means 
a strong one ? (She thinks in silence, and then says :) " I have 
asked Albert ; he says, that it is not indeed usual, in the treatment 
of magnetic sleepers, that the magnetizers have the vigor they 
part with made up to them ; but that as your influence is so bene- 
ficial to me, you will gladly give me the advantage of it, and that 
therefore he will make good to you, as he is permitted, the 
power which you lose — that this, however, will not take place im- 
mediately, because it would hurt you greatly, but only after you 
have come into union with me — that then it will do you no harm." 
You mean by this the magnetic relation ? How is this to be the 
medium ? " You are slow to apprehend ; it is plain that when 
my life and yours are one, neither of us possesses his own apart 
from the other.* When this is the case, Albert can cause his 



* So alio can one spirit be filled by another until he knows not but that 
he in the other.— D. P. %. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 29 

vital power to flow in, and communicate to you, his, and to me, 
his united with yours."* Still, I do not understand it. " I will 
explain it yet more distinctly. By the magnetic relation, as you 
call it, your vitality and mine become one and the same ; they 
blend together. A stream passes over from your system 
into mine. Now, when both are thus blended, Albert 
can contribute his power without injury to us. Do you 
understand it now ?" I will at least believe you, if I do 
not. "It is of no consequence. You will doubtless feel soon 
that I am right. But now I must talk with Albert." (She lies 
still, after taking my hand and laying it at the pit of her stomach, 
for half an hour, without the slightest motion. At length I ask- 
ed :) Can you tell what your disease properly is ? "I see into 
my abdomen ; it is the part which suffers most. (A pause.) My 
chest is also much affected . In the abdomen the nerves are 
darker than in other parts of the body, and, in places, spotted and 
not clear. That is very bad ; ah ! that looks sadly !" Should 
you not take medicines ? " O, no ! that would now be very hurtful. 
Your hand and Albert are my best medicines; any other now 
would do me mischief." Can you see also into my body ? " Yes, 
it is what I am doing at this moment." But you have your eyes 
shut ? "I see now otherwise than with my eyes. My eye is 
here." (She presses my hand to the pit of her stomach.) What 
do you see in my body ? " Your windpipe is weak ; you must be 
very careful of it, and never speak loudly and for a length of time. 
Your stomach too is not yet altogether in a good condition. The 
difficulty in the throat is connected with it. The two affections 
alternate. It is an obstinate disease of the nerves, that has ha- 
rassed you for a long time. Your present mode of living is very 
suitable ; only keep strictly within its limits. This is better than 
any medicine for you, at present, and matters will mend continu- 
ally. You may eat according to your appetite ; only adhere to the 
articles that agree with you ; you know what they are. You may 
take medicine only in case of necessity, which however is not to 



* When the angels turn themselves to man they so conjoin themselves 
to him that they know not otherwise than that the things appertaining to 
man are theirs — man also, on the other hand, knows not otherwise than 
that the things which flow in through the angels are his. — H. fy H. 252. 



30 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

be apprehended." How can you tell all this so precisely ? "I 
know it ; I see it ; it is as I said." Can you also see into the sys- 
tem of my sister M. ? " No, I do not see her at all. (I take M. 
by the hand, whereupon a spasmodic trembling of the body ensues, 
lasting however only a few minutes, after which she says :) Now 
I see her. I can also see into her system, but it is not clear 
enough for me. Albert too does not wish me to look deeper ; it 
would cost me, just now, too great an effort. I love M. dearly; 
she is very good ; but she must not approach me too closely ; it 
still affects me. (After reflecting a moment.) She too suffers 
in the stomach. She will not get better, unless she has rest, inter- 
nal, mental rest and peace ; bodily rest, just now, would be of ser- 
vice to her also. Both are very necessary. If she has them, she 
will improve. (Another quiet interval, during which she moves 
the muscles of her face in a singular and extremely rapid man- 
ner. This nervous exhibition over, her arms first, then her hands, 
and finally her fingers alone, begin to move with extraordinary 
rapidity, also for the space of about five minutes. She now folds 
her hands, while her feet tremble for the same length of time, and 
prays in silence. At length she speaks :) Oh, Albert, how de- 
lightful are my sensations. Deep is my joy that 1 may be with 
you. (Pause.) How ? You mean to go with me into a beauti- 
ful abode ? That is glorious. Ah ! how beautiful this prospect ! 
What resplendent appearances are here ! Ah, how beautiful ! 
You are kind, Albert ; you have done me a great pleasure." 
Whither has Albert carried you ? " Jnto a delightful region 
which I can compare with none that I have ever seen."* Where 
is this place? "Albert says it is in the neighborhood f of the 
Sun. There are creatures here quite different from what men 
are. They are much more pure and noble." You say, in the 
neighborhood of the Sun, not in the Sun itself? " I said so, and 
Albert says it is so. You do not believe that there are creatures 
in those spaces ; but yet it is so. I see the Sun, and these beings 
arc not in the Sun." It may be perhaps that the inhabitants of 



• There are there (in heaven) lands and lakes, mountains and hills, 
plains and vullies, fountains and rivers, paradises and groves. T. C. R. 693. 

t The spirits of every earth are near to their own particular earth, be- 
cause they MM from the inhabitants of that earth, and of a similar genius 
and temper. E. U. 1. note (b). 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 31 

that luminary rise from their dwelling place into these wide re- 
gions ? " That I do not know ; Albert does not say it ; but I see 
these beings in the neighborhood of the Sun. (A pause.) O, if 
it were so fair, so glorious on the earth below, as here, where 
there are no human passions, it were then good to live there. 
This whole life above consists of love ; every thing that is and is 
done here proceeds from love. This principle makes all the hap- 
piness that reigns here above."* Might not we here below be so 
happy] K " Yes, we might, if we would only do as we should — 
but we men are often so ungodly, and therefore so unloving ! No, 
it is not possible, it is not possible. (A pause.) Move your hand 
a little further up, towards the pit of the stomach. (As I did so, 
she said, smiling :) Ah ! now I see every thing clearer and better; 
but ask no questions at present; Albert is speaking with his 
friend." (She appears to listen attentively. Soon after she be- 
gins to weep.) Why do you weep ? " Albert is telling to his 
friend, who knew my father well, his fortunes. He knew me and 
all my family on earth. I have often seen him. But now, in- 
deed, he is different from what he was there ;f and I cannot tell 
who he is. He too is very good, otherwise he could not be Al- 
bert's friend ; but yet he is still far, far below him. (A short pause ; 
then to me :) You will soon be called away to write something." 
(Scarcely had she spoken, when the door opened, and I was called 
away to write an order for some fruit. During my absence she 
lay, as my sister M. told me, quite motionless, with her eyes 
closed, and a pleasant smile on her face. When I returned she 
went on immediately to speak of Albert.) ,c I cannot express how 
good my Albert is — there is no spark of evil in him. Love, Truth, 
Faith, Humility — all in him blends harmoniously. These quali- 
ties form a glorious shape in the other world.! Here, O heret 



* When these (corporeal things) are removed, the love then becomes 
more pure, and at length angelic, which is to love the neighbor more than 
themselves ; for in the heavens their delight is to do good to another, and it 
is not delightful to do good to themselves, unless that it may become ano- 
ther's, thus for the sake of another. H. $ H. 406. 

t When the spirit of man first enters the world of spirits, which takes 
place shortly after his resuscitation, spoken of above ; he has a similar face 
and a similar tone of voice to what he had in the world. But afterwards 
the face is changed and becomes quite another one. H. $ H. 457. 

X For every one becomes his own love, not only as to the interiors, which 
are of the mind, but also as to the exteriors, which are of the face, the body, 



$2 iilSTORY OF THE CASE. 

it is glorious ! On earth he was not yet so pure as he is now. 
Ah ! how imperfect am I still, when I compare myself with him ! 
In the waking state I am often not good ; I have many faults. 
O, I thank yon, Albert, that I am permitted to be with you, 
where I feel so inexpressibly happy. (To me, after a pause :) 
You too are here again? That is kind; lay your left hand, 
if you please, once more on my stomach. (A pause.) To-day 
my Albert is devoted entirely to me in his calling."* What is 
his calling ? " To heal and to do good. Oh, it is good to be with 
him. But great as is my joy at being in a higher world, so 
great is my pain at being compelled to return. Everywhere here 
there is nothing but joy, love, and happiness ; here I see beings 
moving about full of the most interior love and friendship.! One 
feels involuntarily drawn to them. How it would rejoice me if 
you too could lake part in their conversation, if you could only 
speak with Albert. Yet, is he at present quite near you." 
How can that be, since you assert that you are in a higher world 
with Albert ? I am here in the chamber. " Albert has come 
near to you in spirit ; he is, as it were, in your soul ;"| you need 
not wonder tbat he can, in the same moment, be again in the 
most distant places of the higher world ; he is, as it were, every- 
where in the whole of his wide jurisdiction, where he wishes to 
be, like a thought. He loves you much ; I will tell you more of 
him hereafter." I am glad to hear it. But how comes it, that 
you identified me and Albert a few days since? (R. reflects.) 



and the speech ; for every one becomes the effigy of his own love, even in 
externals. H. $ H. 481. 

Goodness and charity is what forms and makes a resemblance of itself 
and causes the delightful and beautiful of charity to shine forth from the 
minutest parte of the face, so that they themselves are forms of charity. — 
Which form, when it is beheld, is inettable beauty. H. 8f H. 414. 

* These employments of the angels are their general employments, but 
every Dae has his particular charge. H. 8f H. 392. 

rhe angelic life consists in use and in doing works of charity — from 
these offices they receive a delight which cannot be described : thus they 
are images of the Lord; thus they love their neighbor more than them- 
selves ; and thus heaven is heaven to them ; wherefore angelic happiness 
i- in use, and from use, and according to use, that is according to the good 
offices of love and charity. A. C. 454. 

i Angela when they are with men, dwell as it were, in their affections, 
and arc near a man. BO far as he is in goods from truths. — H. fy H. 391. 

So also can one spirit be filled by another, until he knows not but that 
he U the oilier. This has very often been seen by me. — D. P. 90. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 33 

Do you know what the word " identifies" means ] " Yes, to make 
one of, to blend, to confound. I confounded you, because I was 
not yet raised to the higher world as I am now. My inner eye 
was not yet fitted for seeing ; I even see Albert only by means 
of your vital influx, in which your image exists,* and through 
that image I see my Albert. I cannot sufficiently explain to 
you how I see with my inner eye ; it is as if I looked out from 
you.f If you were in my condition, you could easily under- 
stand it. (A pause). Do you believe that Albert is near you!" 
You say it with so much assurance, I will believe that it is so. 
" It is so, be assured ; and he would not come so near you, if 
he did not love you, nor would he have chosen you as the 
medium for operating upon me." Can you explain more clearly 
how his influence upon you is modified through me 7 " I can 
only say, that power of a higher kind proceeds from him, which, 
like a stream, works through you upon me, and does you good 
at the same time, as I said before. To be sure, you cannot 
quite understand it." Albert, then, is another person than my- 
self, a real second person ] "Yes, just so." Has your [Albert, 
been long among the inhabitants of the higher world? " That 
I do not know, and do not dare, at present, to ask. Perhaps I 
shall be allowed to ask about it hereafter. He is so good, and 
does every thing to please me ; but I must keep within due 
limits. How do you know these limits ? " I need only look at 
him and I know my duty. (A pause.) To-day he is clothed 
in white, snow white,]: and holds a golden wand in his hands. 
(To me.) You too are quite other than I see you with my 
eyes in my ordinary state, you are fairer."^ Whence does 



* There are spheres, which may be called spiritual spheres, which 
continually flow forth, yea, overflow from every spirit; they flow from 
the active principle of the affections and consequent thoughts, thus from 
the life itself. E. U. 64. 

tl will add this experience which is common in the spiritual world; 
one spirit can infuse his thoughts and affections into another spirit, and the 
latter does not know otherwise than that it is of his own thought and 
affection ; this is there called, thinking from another and thinking in 
another. D. P. 312. 

{The less intelligent (angels) have bright and white garments without 
splendor. H. $ H. 178. 

§ For the face of man's spirit differs very much from the face of Ms 
body. Jf.^-H.457. 

2* 



34 IIISTORY OF THE CASE. 

this come, as I am sitting here in my morning gown at your 
side 1 " Because I see you with the eye of my soul ; your face 
is much more expressive ; your soul is copied therein.* (I take 
a pinch of snuff.) My nose pains me ; (smiling,) you have 
taken snuff." (R. now lay quiet a quarter of an hour, as if 
thinking, then became restless, opened her mouth several times 
but did not speak.) What disquiets you 7 "I have spoken with 
my Albert." What was the subject of your conversation'? 
" Albert says expressly, that I must not tell you, and when he 
enjoins any thing, I must obey without hesitation, though you 
should oppose it. Give me your other hand too. So ! now I 
feel as if I had one of your hands and one of Albert's. Albert's 
power works upon me especially through your left ; through 
your right he has already caused power to flow into you — This 
is also of benefit to me. (A pause.) But now — alas ! now Al- 
bert tells me he must soon leave me. That distresses me 
greatly. O, Albert, return soon again, I pray you — When will 
you come again? Ah, you will come again to-day] About 
four o'clock 7 That is excellent ! Come without fail ! (My 
sister M. approaches her couch without R. being able at all to 
see her.) Tell M. that her being near me is not painful to me ; 
but that, for the present, she must not approach me too closely. 
I must accustom myself to it by degrees. I perceive it hurts 
her a little that I should express such a wish ; however, it is 
absolutely necessary. But M. is good, she will understand it- 
(In consequence of sitting uneasily and bending to the left, I 
feel a shooting pain in the muscles of the right side, without 
mentioning it however to any one. But she observes it and 
says :) My right side pains me ; sit up straighter — Your hand 
will produce the effect, if you lay it but very lightly on the pit 
of my stomach. (A pause.) I feel very warm, will you not blow 
on me V 9 — What do you mean? — 4< I wish you to blow, but not 
strongly, into my face. (I did so.) Ah, that is cooling, that is 
refreshing. (After a few seconds :) That is enough— When I 
awake be so kind, as to prepare a drink for me." How must it 
1 e made ? — In two glasses of water, drop 21 drops of lemon- 

•The face of the body is from the parents, but the face of the spirit 
from iti affection, of which it is the image, //, $ H. 457. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 35 

juice, and put in some sugar ; but only you must prepare the 
lemonade. " — I will do so. — " I will ask you also to blow on it 
and to pass your fingers over it — look — (making the magnetic 
passes) in this way." I will do so — " Yes, you will do it gladly, 
I know, and all your desire is to benefit me — With you, yes, 
with you I shall recover my health. But I cannot now stay here 
in Schnaith ; your departure is at hand. My Albert says, that 
to-morrow I must set out for R- — , and what he tells me I must 
do without asking why. Only let me not be absent too long 
my Albert ; otherwise my body will suffer too much. But you 
will be quick to hear it. (After a pause.) — Yes, he grants my 
request ; I may come to you again ; but then you will no longer 
be in Schnaith. When that will be, he does not tell me. (A 
pause.) Yes, I must set off to-morrow ; I am expected in R. ; 
but I have a request to make of you." What is your wish? 
" It will not be good for me to walk early to-morrow to Enders- 
bach ; (where the conveyance to Stuttgart would take her up,) 
it is desirable that I should ride." — That will be cared for ; give 
yourself no concern about it. But will not the journey itself, 
be hurtful to you 1 " It will be of no service to my health ; still, 
if I am not too long separated from you, the ill effects may be 
repaired — (After a longer interval of silence.) I have some- 
thing still to say regarding my own and your bodily state. In 
the disease you have just passed through, the nerves of the 
abdomen have more especially suffered ; the stomach and liver 
w 7 ere only incidentally affected ; your affection was one of the 
nerves, and it is necessary for you still to take care of yourself. 
But follow only my advice, observe the regimen you are on at 
present, and do not suffer yourself to be too much affected by 
any thing ; what does not pertain to your affairs directly do not 
trouble yourself about, and quietly refer every thing where it 
belongs, until it is understood. Be not too much concerned 
about any thing external. You must overcome yourself. Al- 
bert will help you, if it is too hard for you.* For the present 



* In general, angels of every society are sent to men, that they may 
guard them and withdraw them from evil affections and thence thoughts, 
and inspire them with good affections, so far as they receive them from 
freedom ; by which also they rule the deeds or works of men, removing, 
as far as it is possible, evil intentions. H. fy H, 391. 



36 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

you need have no fears as to your health. But if you do not 
obey me it will be ruined. Your nervous system is very delicate 
and has been weakened by your previous attacks — a circum- 
stance, however, of great advantage to me. Should you under- 
take to magnetize me in the usual way, you would hurt yourself 
very greatly. You do so, as it is ; but there is one higher than 
either, who treats us both, in a manner, as a physician. As you 
are operating on me, Albert can be perpetually imparting to you 
new vitality. (After a pause.) The physician who treated you 
in your last attack is an excellent one, he knows your constitu- 
tion well. Continue to follow his advice. You will, at times, 
require his aid, by reason of many inconveniences. But have 
no fear, there is no occasion for it. (My brother C, who had 
left the chamber a short time before, now returned. I looked at 
him, intending to ask him some question. At this moment R. 
said ;) I see C. ; (as I turned my look from him) now I no longer 
see him ;* but with that single glance I saw something about 
him that should not be."— What is that ? — "He does not believe 
in magnetism, because he does not know it, and it is something 
quite new to him. He thinks I do not speak truly when I say 
that I am in a higher world. That hurts my feelings, but he 
will yet believe ; he will see presently that he labors under a 
mistake ; oh, in this state, it were impossible for me to say what 
was not true. (It was actually so, as C. confessed that he 
secretly doubted the phenomena of animal magnetism.) Why 
will he not leave off his snuffing. (I had just taken a pinch of 
snuff, the effect of which was to make her draw up her nose, 
and make some demonstrations of sneezing, without, however, 
doing it.) I must also (she proceeded after a short pause,) say 
something more of myself before I awake. You must prepare 
the lemonade for me after dinner — I must drink no more coffee. 
That comes hard to me, as I love it ; it affects my nerves. Milk, 
too, is not good for me. I must change my breakfast occasion- 
ally. To-morrow, I am to take a single cup of weak tea with 
milk that is not rich. The next day I wish health-chocolate, but 
still only one cup. Tell me this when I wake, otherwise I shall 



■ Spirits can see nothing, through man, which is in this solar world, but 
they have seen through my eyes. H. fy H- 252, note. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 37 

drink coffee in R. Albert says I must drink chocolate that has 
no spice in it, until he directs otherwise. As regards articles of 
diet during the day, I need not be particularly careful. Those 
difficult of digestion are not good. Hereafter, my stomach will 
be worse at first ; this will come from you, and you will reap a 
benefit from it, while I shall not suffer. If Albert allows me to 
go to Schwaikheim, I must walk a great deal, especially in the 
morning. I must, then also, drink water early in the morning, 
which will also do you good ; — therefore adopt the practice ; 
only, after meals, exercise is not good for you. (A pause.) My 
Albert says again that I must never be magnetized — you are 
therefore never to attempt it. (Some one came into the cham- 
ber, who was in perplexity on account of some household article 
lost or mislaid, which she announced, saying at the same time, 
that R. would know where the article was to be found, and that 
I must ask her. I did so ; but scarcely had I begun to speak, 
when she said :) I know what you are going to say, but such 
questions I do not like ; I will never answer them ; they are 
merely curious and answer no good end. (It was discovered at 
this moment, that a letter to Schorndorf, by which a place should 
have been engaged in the conveyance that went on the follow- 
ing day, from there to Stuttgart by the way of Endersbach, had 
not been sent. We were thrown by this circumstance into 
perplexity, and consulted whether it would not be necessary to 
send off a messenger with the letter. But R. declared :) That 
is unnecessary, I shall get a seat in Endersbach to-morrow ; 
in the mean time, (smiling.) it will occasion a transfer. (When 
she arrived early on the 19th in Endersbach, the seats in the 
conveyance were all taken, but a passenger offered to give up 
his place. and take a seat with the driver. She now turns to me :) 
You do not feel any weariness to-day, do you ? Yes, you feel 
quite comfortable ; you are stronger than you were early this 
morning. (In fact, I felt a degree of power and comfort in my 
whole system such as I had not experienced for a long time, and 
which, after the occurrences already related, threw me into 
astonishment.) " But now it is time for me to awake. Ah, how 
rapidly my Albert carries me. What a sight the earth presents 
at a distance !* How quickly have you returned with me to the 

* I was led by angels from the Lord to a certain earth in the starry 



38 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

earth, Albert. To remain there with you would be my most 
earnest wish. But it must be so ! Ah, he departs, he leaves 
me." (Now, there come on quickly spasms in the extremities, 
she turns hither and thither, as in a painful struggle, her teeth 
gnash, and her arms are twisted into the strangest positions. 
All at once there takes place a general quivering of the whole 
body, and after a few seconds she opens her eyes, about 12 
o'clock, after she had slept for three hours. She rose im- 
mediately, and ate the mid-day meal with appetite. As she 
was astonished at what we told her, so we also were struck 
with the quite altered, flippant pronunciation of which she again 
made use, contrasting strongly with her solemn, slow, and pure 
speech during the crisis. 

April the eighth. 

(Four o'clock in the evening.) 

Qualms, cramps and trembling attend the transition into the 
higher state, exactly as in the forenoon at nine. She begs me, 
after the cramps had come on, not to approach her until their 
violence was past, because it would not be good for me and 
herself. At last she asks me to lay my left hand upon her 
stomach, whereupon a sudden and violent shivering of the whole 
body came on, followed, after a deep sigh, by a general quiet 
and comfort, which showed themselves in a pleasurable ex- 
pression of her features. Soon she speaks low and slowly, as 
usual, without being first addressed. 

"Ah! my Albert, my friendly attendant, are you come again ! 
yes, I am permitted to be with him once more. (A pause.) But 
this time he is alone ; his friend is not with him." — Where was 
Albert in the mean time? " Far, far distant; in many places ; 
but he was busy on the earth too."* — Where? — n In Bava- 
ria." What was his business there? "To heal, to do good, 
to create joy, to mitigate pain, is his calling, ""and he loves it.f 



heaven, when it was given me to take a view of the earth itself. E. 
(J. 127. 

In general angels of every society are sent to man. — H. ty H. 391, 
t That the divine love is life itself, and that hence the love appertain- 
ing to man is his life, is confirmed by many testimonies, but the most dis- 
tinguished of these testimonies is the consideration that the spirit of man 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 39 

Ah! it pains me to think that I must leave him to-morrow. 
But I must, must set off to-morrow, and it makes me very sad. 
(She weeps. After a long pause :) He promises, so far as he 
can, to give me relief, without your aid, and at a distance from 
you. He says that the reason why he has come to me twice 
to-day is, that he cannot be with me as he wishes, for some 
little time. Oh you are good, my Albert. (A pause.) She prays 
with her hands folded :) 

I thank Thee, merciful Father, who lookest lovingly on the 
needs of all Thy children, that Thou has sent me a physician so 
compassionate, so faithful a guide in my Albert. Oh, help me 
that I may never forget the gratitude I owe to Thee, to Whom 
alone it is due. (A long interval of silence.) Whither are you 
carrying me, Albert 1 Ah, into a mild fair region again ] " Yes, 
here I can be refreshed.'' Where is this region 1 Again 
in the neighborhood of the Sun ] " Yes, there again. 
But remove, I pray, the ring from your left hand, it gives 
me pain at the stomach. (When I had complied with her 

request she said :) So ! now I feel better. The gold in this 
ring is not quite so fine as in that which you wear on your right 
hand. The mixture of the metals causes me an unpleasant 
tension in the stomach and abdomen. I do not know what it 
proceeds from, There is copper in it. Each by itself would 
have a different effect. So it is, though I cannot explain it. 
(After being silent for some time :) Ah, my Albert, you are very 
kind. You are carrying me into the sun 1 Ah, how beautiful 
it is here ! A splendid garden extends before my eye, adorned 
with fragrant flowers."* — " There are flowers then blooming 
in the neighborhood of the sun 1 — " Yes indeed, but you could 

not see them with your eyes ;f they are of a quite different na- 
ture ;t much more delicate, like light and fragrance, and yet they 



is nothing but affection, and that hence man, after death, becomes an affec- 
tion ; if he be an angel, an affection of good use, and if he be a spirit of 
hell, an affection of evil use. — D. L. 9. 

* To those (angels) who are in intelligence, there appear gardens and 
paradises full of trees and flowers of every kind.— H. $ H. 176. 

t For the things which are in the heavens cannot be seen by the eyes 
of man's body, but by the eyes of his spirit.— H. fy H. 171. 

\ But the things which appear in the heavens, although they are in 
great part similar to those which are on the earth, still they are not simi- 
ar as to essence.— jff, fy H, 172. 



40 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

are flowers. I perceive this, and my Albert confirms it. (She 
moves her lips in silence, and a lovely serenity and cheerfulness 
spreads over her face. All at once she becomes serious, and 
her features express an effort of attention.) Ah, I see angels I 
what majesty ! what glory !* I cannot sustain it. This then is 
the residence of many blest ones that were once on earth ?"f 
Did your guardian spirit say so 1 " Yes, I see in him that it is 
so. (A pause.) Oh ye exalted beings ! ye lovely forms that 
have walked upon earth, with deep reverence do I behold 
you. Yes, you have escaped all the miseries that still oppress 
us here. Ye know nothing more of the sufferings of earth, of 
the, so often, bitter sufferings of human life.'* (She weeps in 
in silence — a long pause.) In order to quiet her, I said : speak 
with your Albert and ask him about the employment of those 
high beings. " I cannot do it just at present ; for he also is 
lost in gazing at the angels. (A pause.) Only think, even my 
Albert, this pure spirit, bends with humijity and reverence before 
these high beings.J Now Albert has turned to me again, 
but I cannot see in him, on what employment they are gone. 
Oh, how I thank you, my Albert, that you showed me the place 
by which they passed ; what a pleasure was that to my soul ! 
(A long pause.) Sweet Peace ! Only in this higher world 
thou dwellest in all thy fulness !{ And what love reigns here ! 
Only love, only faith, my Albert says, and the happiness pro- 



* They (the angels) have been seen by some, and have excited asto- 
nishment. — H. § H. 414 

t Wherefore they (the angels) wish that I should "assert from their 
mouths, that in the universal heaven there is not one angel who was so 
created from the beginning, nor in hell any devil who was created an an- 
gel of light and cast down ; but that all, both in heaven and hell, are from 
the human race. — H. ty H, 311. * 

The angels in the celestial kingdom of the Lord very much excel in 
wisdom and glory the angels who are in the spiritual kingdom. — 11. fy H. 25. 

\ But still they (the governors) have honor and glory; they dwell in the 
midst of the society more elevated than others, and also in magnificent 
palaces ; they also accept this glory, and that honor, yet not for the sake 
of themselves.— H. ty H. 218. 

§ There are two inmost things of Heaven, namely, innocence and peace . 
They are called inmost, because they proceed immediately from the Lord. 
Innocence is that from which is all the good ol heaven, and peace is that 
from which is all the delight of good. — fl. fy H. 285. 

The state of the Lord's kingdom is a stale of peace, and all happy states 
derived from love and faith toward the Lord exist in a state of peace. 
—A. C. 985. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 4l 

ceeding from them.* exist in these high regions. O that I could 
speak it out to all men! Me too, O Father, Thou wilt receive 

, as thy child. Behold, I too am full of trust in Thee, although I 
am but weak, a mere weak mortal. Thy Jove, Thy bound- 
less mercy, causes me to find favor in Thy sight. Of this I am 
sure. How blessed a thing it is to rejoice in Thee ! Already 
I have a foretaste of that high felicity. (She prays with her 

' hands folded and raised to her face, with visible emotion, for a 
long time in silence. At length she lets her hands fall and 
says :) I was in a large Templef whither Albert carried me. 
Here I was permitted to pray with him. J I prayed for my father 
and for myself. For you also I prayed, my benefactor, through 
whom I shall be restored again to health. God will renew 
your health again, believe it, and trust in Him. But now listen ! 
My Albert bids me tell you, that in order to bring back the per- 
spiration of the feet, that is so favorable to your health, you 
must still lay the pitch plaster for some time to the soles. The 
perspiration will never indeed appear again as strong as in 
your earlier years ; but this is natural, and not at all necessary. 
Only you must always guard your feet, and especially the soles 
of your feet, against taking cold. You will always, when you 
have cold feet, experience uncomfortable sensations in the up- 
per part of your body. Only you must never let the plaster 
stay more than from ten to fourteen days ; the pitch would be 
altered by the perspiration and cease to have its effect. But I 
see the perspiration has already come. That is very well. (It 
was really so.) I must further say to your sister M., that as the 
affection of her eyes originated in her early youth, and is con- 
nected with the general state of her nervous system, she can 
hope for relief only by sparing her eyes. She is in the habit of 
reading much and long, is full of cares too, and often weeps. 
That is not good for her. She must spare her eyes more — medi- 
cines will do but little good. (A pause.) I am to tell C, with 



* Wherefore angelic happiness is in use, and from use, and according to 
use, that is, according to the good offices of love and charity. — A. C. 454. 

t And they prepared themselves, and accompanied the angel and en- 
tered ; and behold the temple was large, capable of holding about three 
thousand.— T. C. R. 750. 

t Divine worship in the heavens is not unlike divine worship on earth, 
as to externals, but as to internals, it differs. In the heavens, as on earth, 
there are doctrines, there are preachings, and there are temples, — JF£ £ H. 



42 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

regard to his left eye, that calamine is not good for him ; he 
need only be careful not to neglect bathing it every day with 
cold water. Pure water is here better than all mixtures. But 
now, I must cease from speaking ; Albert wishes me to speak 
with him, and give my body perfect rest. (She lies more than 
three quarters of an hour motionless, breathing scarce percep- 
tibly ; only the delicately colored cheeks, and the mduth occa- 
sionally smiling, testify life. At length she moves her arms, 
lifts them up and exclaims :) Albert ! Albert ! you will not 
leave me surely ? No, he has only withdrawn a little way. 
He is already with me again. (As I had risen at the moment 
and removed my hand from her stomach, it occurred to me 
again, that the idea of Albert as a being distinct from myself 
was an effect of the imagination, and that she still confounded 
me with a creation of her own mind. But she said all at once :) 
Ah, I was mistaken ; you removed your hand, and the conse- 
quence was, that I could no longer see Albert distinctly. Now 
that you have put it back, I see him again quite distinctly. At 
this moment, he is quite near you — as it were one with you."— - 
But you said, that he and I were two beings ? "I said rightly; 
you are certainly two beings, inasmuch as you are on the 
earth, and he in the higher world ; thus far you are two souls. 
But I mean to say, that your essence on both sides has now 
blended together. I do not understand. IS You might under- 
stand it. As two bodies embracing, form as it were but one, 
so it is here. His soul pervades yours ;* it is a kind of hea- 
venly embrace." I beg you, however, to ask Albert, if we are 
two different persons ; I could wish a precise answer from him 
to this point. He says, yes, that you are two souls, but, just 
now, spiritually one, that he is, as it were, interlocked with you, 
and that he comes so near because he loves you. He adds, 
that while he lived on earth, his dispositions were very similar 
to yours, and that therefore he feels a particular attachment 
to you."f (A slight trembling seizes her.) Why do you 



* I will add this experience which is common in the spiritual world : 
one spirit can infuse his thoughts and affections into another spirit. — D. 
P. 312. 

t All things are consociated most exquisitely in the heavens, according 
to all the difference oflove to the Lord, and of mutual love, and of faith 
originating therein. — A. C. 2449. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 43 

tremble? — " Albert has become very serious towards me. You 
desired me, from a very good motive, to ask him, whether he 
and you were two persons. I was secretly displeased at this, 
and felt hurt that you would not believe me on my own word. 
My Albert saw it, and as it by no means pleased him, he with- 
drew his power from me a few moments. But I saw my fault 
directly, and now he is again kind and friendly. He is just now 
at your right side." — (I extend my arm, point to the right and 
ask :) Is Albert here ? " Yes. just here ; you must now feel 
him more distinctly in your body than a little before, when he 
was nearer to you. At a little distance his influence is stronger. 
(In fact I experience in my right side a surprising and unusual 
warmth.) Yes, that is he ; he smiles at your astonishment. 
With what a friendly look he regards you !" I too, should be 
glad to see your guardian spirit. " Be satisfied for the present ; 
you have felt him ; you have now a mind to see him ; but that 
would not be good for you. He knows your wish ; but you 
could not endure his sight." How old was he, when he died? 
" Thirty-six years. He knew you long since as a child, and 
loved you. At that time he saw you often. " Did I know him ? 
"He knew you; let that suffice. Through me you have ap- 
proached him yet more closely." Am I related to him ? — " Yes, 
(smiling,) related in spirit ; upon this point Albert will say 
nothing." Did he belong to my profession ? Yes, yet he stood, 
in life, a degree higher than you." To the sacred profession? 
11 Yes, to the same." Was he a citizen of Wirtemberg ? — u That 
I may not answer !" How long has he been dead ? (No 
answer came. After a pause.) " Albert does not wish to be 
questioned particularly as to his person ; he will hear nothing 
more of it." Is it well, in general, to put few questions to 
you ? — O no, continue to inquire ; if answering too long is pre- 
judicial to me, I will always tell you myself. I am glad to 
have you speak with me, and I will gladly inform you, where 
I may and can. I hope you will always so manage your 
questions as not to cost me too much effort. But as to that too, 
I can always tell you. At present, my magnetic state is not 
sufficiently advanced : as yet, I know little of much importance 
to tell you. Hereafter, I perceive I shall be able to do so. But 
now I must let my body rest again." (She lies a considerable 



44 HISTORY OF TItE CASE. 

time motionless, with her hands crossed over her breast. Soon 
she begins to speak again :) K I had a conversation with Al- 
bert." On what subject did you converse ? — " He gave me 
several good counsels, but will not permit me to communicate 
them to you. They concern only myself. (A pause.) But the 
time is come when you are accustomed to eat. Take something, 
I pray you, you require it." Can I leave you so long, without 
any prejudice to you ? <; Well, but you can take something 
here by me ; here is a little table." That can be done — (while 
I was eating she said :) You have a good appetite, but your roast 
beef is too salt." (This was actually the case, though a word 
had not been said about it.) You may drink one glass of beer. 
I would ask you to take some of my lemonade, if the lemon- 
juice was good for your stomach. Beer suits you very well. 
Avoid wine entirely." What may we give you to eat this 
evening? — (She answered so low, that I was obliged to bring 
my ear quite close to her mouth, whereupon she suddenly ex- 
claimed aloud :) " Ah, I see into your head ; all the nerves — ah, 
it is clear there, all over clear ; light streaming in every direc- 
tion. It is a glorious sight. I can distinguish the radiations in 
the fibres of the brain. Yet I knew before, that there was 
nothing cloudy about your head" — I thought that in that higher 
world, where you say you are, there was no flattery — "O, 
speak not so ; thank God for your mental powers ; no, I had no such 
meaning." Be calm ; I was only jesting. You spoke, however, 
only of the radiation of material light in the nerves of my head. 
That is true — yet as a matter of course — (suddenly she makes 
a movement with her hand, at the same time showing in her 
face signs of pain.) What ails you 1 What has happened to 
you 1 — " The fourth finger of my left hand pains me exces- 
sively." How can I relieve it? Shall I make passes on it? 
" No, you have a ring of very fine gold in which some brilliants 
are set ; put it a little while, if you please, on my finger. (The 
ring was brought, and scarcely placed on her finger when the 
pain ceased.) It is an indescribably strong effect which these 
stones and the fine gold* produce on my nerves. (In subsequent 

+ That a natural sphere is continually flowing forth not only from man 
but also from beasts, yea from trees, fruits, flowers, and also from metals, 
is a thing generally known. — A. & 4446. 






HISTORY OF THE CASE. 45 

crises also, this ring showed peculiar and extraordinary effects, 
particularly on the nerves of her eyes, of which mention will be 
made in time.) It will gratify me, if I may retain the ring un- 
til to-morrow." As you like — but how will it be with your 
^health in R. after you have made your journey from me 1 " Albert 
cannot approach me so nearly there indeed, because you will be 
away, but still he will come and help me as much as may be. I 
^shall be obliged to suffer much in my breast ; but he has told me 
even now, that I will again feel him more than in Schwaikheim. 
He cannot and dare not operate upon me immediately, because 
Hhat would destroy me. My absence should not be a long one ; 
it would be prejudicial to me. (A pause.) When I shall be 
' permitted to greet him again in Schwaikheim, I cannot as yet 
tell." Listen, R., I wish to ask you a question. (As no an- 
swer follows, I repeat what I had said, whereupon she replied :) 
= " In the world where I now am, I am not called R., but Felici- 
tas. Do not therefore call me by that name." But wherefore 
have you changed your name there for one that is so old fash- 
ioned? " Oh, it is a beautiful name ; when I awake, it will not 
indeed please me ; but here it is a very proper name ;* my Al- 
bert has told me this." — But why are you called Felicitas ; has 
that name a meaning 1 " My Albert was permitted to give me 
a name, and he chose this, for the reason that a friend of his 
whom he had highly esteemed on earth, and whom I much re- 
sembled, as he said, bore this name." I presume that the 
friend of your Albert is also dead ] " She is so," If that is the 
case, he can be with her ; for what purpose, then, this bestowal 
of her name by way of memento ] " You take too much for 
granted. She is in the other world, not however with him, but 
in a far different sphere of effort.f (All at once she became 
violently affected by the sudden entrance into her chamber, of 
a person, who approached her just as suddenly. The spasms 



* It is not known that in the spiritual world there are not names as in 
the natural world, but that every one is named according to the quality of 
his love and wisdom ; for as soon as any one comes into society or partici- 
pation with others, he is forthwith named according to his quality there. 
D. P. 230. 

t Because there is such a distinction between the angels of the celestial 
kingdom and the angels of the spiritual kingdom, therefore they are not 
together nor do they have intercourse with each other.— if. § H. 27. 



46 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

which had seized her, were gradually removed by laying one 
of iny hands on her stomach and the other on her forehead. 
After a pretty long and quiet interval:) "Now I must come 
back to you, it is Albert's will; he is obliged to leave me- 
Farewell, my guardian, my physician ; soon I shall be permitted 
again to see thee. ,, (She folds her hands and appears to pray 
in silence : soon she is seized with cramps tremblings and 
oppression of breathing ; a short convulsive cough and pecu- 
liarly violent spasms of the feet come on, lasting some minutes' 
whereupon she awakes, retaining not the slightest recollection 
of what had happened.) 



From April 9th to May 5th. 






On the 9th of April R. set out for R m, suffering much 

during the journey from pain in the stomach. 

The magnetic state returned as early as the 11th, after vio- 
lent cramps for a quarter of an hour, affecting particularly 
the breast, and terminating at last in convulsions of the ex- 
tremities. It was marked, now, by this peculiarity, that the pa- 
tient lay for the most part motionless and silent, and, especially 
at first, felt painfully the approach of any one, as was indicated 
by her features. My sister L., in whose house she was staying, 
attempted, immediately upon the attack, to approach the bed on 
which she had cast herself, to render her assistance ; but she 
immediately complained : " It hurts me, L., to have you near 
me." Soon however she called for L., and said to her, " I can 
support your presence now, better than a little while since ; it 
no longer affects me so painfully." But when L. undertook to 
lay her hand upon her stomach, she did not allow her to do it, 
nor even to touch her. After lying quietly for some time, she said 
quickly, " Ah, now he is here, my Albert ; but he can only relieve 
me a little. ,, She besought herguardian spirit earnestly, to let her 
soul go to Schnaith, which he so far granted, that she could see 
what her magnetizer and those about him were engaged in.* 



* The case is the same also with man a.s to his spirit, and therefore he 
also may be bo translated, [viz., by changes of the state of interior things,] 
whilst his hody still continues in its own place. — E. U. 125. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 47 

■'When, as she said, she had returned, she said : " H. is sitting 
I and writing at his secretary. C. is going to church. M. is 
|>busy in the kitchen." It was subsequently ascertained, that 
I all this took place at Schnaith exactly at the time indicated. 
I To the question of my sister L. whether she would regain her 
v health, she replied ; only with your brother H. and by the laying 
on of his hand is it possible ; without this help, I should scarce- 
ly recover. I know no one besides him who would operate 
[•upon me so beneficially. After some time, she heard, what 
she announced by looks of joy, delightful music,* and saw herself 
1 translated into a fair, but to her, unknown region. Subsequently 
she had a painful cramp in the third finger of the left hand, 
when she said : "That ring would soon remove the pain," 
and asked L. to write for it to me, and procure it. " Yet, she 
. added, he must carry it some days on his finger, or carry it 
about his person : for it will supply in some measure the want 
of his own presence." Once in this crisis she rubbed her nose, 
observing : " Now he has taken snuff again." As my sister's 
' husband was about to approach the bed, she begged him ear- 
nestly not to do so, and to sit down some distance off. In the 
mean time she heard his words, as well as those of his wife, and 
always replied to his questions. She further directed for her- 
self, that she must take nothing cold, or sour, and use no 
spices. She awoke after a sleep of about two hours, with the 
cramp and spasms which usually marked with her the begin- 
ning and the end of this state. 

On the 14th of April, there came on a new crisis accompanied 
by the spasmodic attack just mentioned, which lasted from nine 
till eleven o'clock in the forenoon. That day R., according to 
the letters I afterwards received, was very restless, for the most 
part melancholy, and complained of cramps in the stomach and 
peculiarly violent pain in the fourth finger of the left hand. It so 
happened that during this crisis the wished for ring arrived, which 
she was immediately aware of. She took it eagerly ; and scarcely 
had she put it on the suffering finger, when the pain ceased. The 



* There are here (in heaven) days of festivity appointed by the prince. — 
On these days there are concerts of music and songs in the public places. 
-2\ C. R. 745. 



48 HISTORY OE THE CASE. 

cramp in the stomach was also removed by pressing it to the 
pit of the stomach. Soon there followed general relief, accom- 
panied by a pleasurable feeling. Albert appeared on this occa- 
sion also, and stayed some time with her. To the question, 
how it came that her guardian spirit, notwithstanding her 
having said that she would see him first again in Schwaik- 
heim, yet appeared to her, she replied : " I did not say that he 
would not appear to me at all, in this place, but that he could 
not approach me so closely, that is, could not work upon me so 
powerfully, as through H. For this reason, he did not remain 
with me so long as in Schnaith. ,, My mother, who was living 
with my sister, approached her bed ; but her influence also was 
not beneficial to her. On this occasion too, R. complained more 
than once, smiling indeed, but drawing up her nose and rubbing 
it, at my frequent pinches of snufF, using the words ; *' Why 
can he not leave off his snuffing." 

On the 16th of April, at two in the afternoon, a new crisis 
was announced by sickness, sighing and difficulty of breathing, 
and was fully introduced by the usual cramps, lasting about ten 
minutes. When her body was at rest, and her breathing had 
become slight, and scarce perceptible, she crossed her arms on 
her breast and said: "I may now converse longer with my 
Albert, let me therefore rest." In this way, she lay more than 
three quarters of an hour, like the form of one who had passed 
away without preceding disease. Afterwards, her features 
showed from time to time an expression by turns of friendliness, 
of seriousness, of attention, and silent mournfulness. At length 
she began to be restless, and when she was asked the reason, re- 
plied : My Albert has not granted me this time rny request to 
visit Schnaith." I asked — Why not this time 1 " He says it 
will do me no good, as I am in no contact with II., and merely 
visiting him at a distance will only make me more unquiet." 
My sister's husband had put on paper several questions which 
he wished to propose to the somnambulist, and as he did not 
a fleet her favorably himself, he communicated them to her 
through his wife L., with whom a kind of rapport had been re- 
stored. There was, however, some among them, which, though 
answered correctly, must here be passed over in silence. She 
was asked whether an absolute predestination was taught in 






HISTORY OF THE CASE. 49 

the ninth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, Hereto she 
answered very seriously : " What God has not seen fit to re- 
veal to man, he should not dive into." L. asked : We must be 
childlike, must we not, in our faith 1 (With a friendly smile :) 
" Yes, that is the right way." Is it taught, it was further asked, 
in holy writ, that there shall be an drroKardsrasis nduron-, (a resto- 
ration of all things ]) " Yes, every soul in which there is any 
'thing good will finally be saved."* Now followed the question : 
! What death did the apostles, Peter and Paul, die 7 ? (At this 
question she became very restless, and her whole body began 
to tremble. After some time she answered :) " Peter died on 
the cross. How Paul died I cannot tell. But put no more such 
1 questions to me, I pray. They have no other end than that of 
curiosity. (Smiling.) I am inclined to think the next question 
on the paper is, who will be mayor in P. But this I shall not 
answer. It is quite too unimportant. Such questions answer no 
good purpose. Soon after, R. became restless and said : — A 
lady has arrived and is in the adjoining chamber." To the 
question, who is she 1 she answered quite correctly : "Mrs H. 
of L. ; she has just inquired of your mother, how I am. (After 
a pause :) My Albert will not visit me again until a week from 
| the next Monday, on the 28th of April ; ah, I must suffer much 
in the stomach until that time. But he says I may go soon to 
Schwaikheim ; the day, however, my Albert does not determine." 
She now rested again for a considerable time, with her eyes 
closed, and her lips moving from time to time. Before waking, 
she once more addressed my sister and said to her : k4 L., you are 
good ; for this reason it was ordered that I should come to you ; 
i my Albert knew well, that I would meet with a loving reception 
from you." About half past four o'clock, she awoke with pretty 
severe cramps of the breast, and spasms in the extremities. 
The following matters of interest pertaining to this day are yet 
to be noted. At the noon day meal, and in the waking state of 
| the patient, the conversation turned upon obituaries and their 
composition. Each one gave his view, about the best style of 



* If by combat against evils as sins, man has procured to himself any thing 
spiritual in the world, be it ever so small, he is saved, and his uses grow 
i afterwards like a grain of mustard seed into a tree, according to the Lord's 
words, in Matthew, Chap, xiii, 32.— D. L. 17. 



50 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

such public notices, on which occasion R. observed : " Short 
and feeling notices of this kind are those which please me best. 
Some time ago I read one in the Swabian Mercury, which pleased 
me very much ; it was thus : i( Softly fell asleep on the 15th of 
April, after a sickness of only two days, and passed to a better 
life, Jos. of Th., loved, honored, admired by the few who knew 
her well ; a rare instance of one, in whom innocent and child- 
like simplicity were united with the richest and most general 
cultivation, and a masculine understanding. Of this irreparable 
loss, &c." It was replied to her thereupon, that yesterday was 
the 15th of April, that no one had read this obituary, that the 
girl to whom it related was still living ; but R. maintained 
firmly that she had distinctly read this notice a short time ago. 
On Sunday, the 20th, there came several papers together, as is 
common in R. where they cannot be had daily, and among them 
was No. 104, of the 17th of April, which contained the above 
obituary, word for word ; it was dated the 15th, but was not 
printed before the 16th. They were all so much the more 
astonished at this remarkable coincidence, as R. had not even 
left the house, much less the place, since the 16th, and could 
from no quarter have received intelligence concerning the death 
of the girl, of whom neither she nor any in the house had the 
remotest knowledge. 

Of the phenomena which attended the crisis announced on 
the 28th of April, nothing can here be said, inasmuch as nothing 
relating to them was committed to paper, or reported to me by 
letter — save only that the cramps attending it were quite simi- 
lar to the earlier ones. 

On the 4th of May, my brother C. visited the patient in R. 
The latter had foretold his arrival, of which nothing could have 
been known there on that day. At half past one in the afternoon, 
the usual cramps came on, after a short indisposition, and there- 
upon the magnetic sleep, which lasted this time longer than 
usual. The cramps were severe, and accompanied by frightful 
convulsions ; there were turns of suffocation, and even during 
the sleep, the spasms and the violent pains in the stomach did 
not cease. The parish priest, R. of P. who happened to be 
present, offered his services and asked the patient : Can I come 
into relation with you? to which she replied : "Lay your hand 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 51 

J jpon me and it will relieve me." To the further question shall 
{ magnetize you : she replied in the negative, and added : 
" ,i Cease, I beg of you, to address me in the plural. I cannot 
: bear to hear it." In this sleep she prescribed to herself a tea 
of violets and cowslips, which also was of service (History of 
two Somnambulists,) to Dr. Kerner's subject. 

On the 3d of May, R. heard a voice calling her name early 
in the morning as she lay awake in bed. She rose up in bed 
s and looked about. As she heard nothing and saw nothing, she 
=lay down again ; but directly she heard the voice a second 
9 time distinctly call her name. She rose up again, and now saw 
a bright form, which she said was that of her magnatizer, my- 
self, which however disappeared after a few moments. On this 
- day, (the 4th,) my sister L. inquired more particularly of R., 
after she had fallen into the crisis, concerning this phenomenon, 
| and received for answer that she had really seen me. On the 
same day also R. foretold, that she should thenceforth have no 
more magnetic attacks in R. When asked the reason of it, she 
replied : "I shall set out for Schwaikheim ; when, I cannot yet 
: say. I shall have another crisis this evening, in which I shall 
learn the time of my departure. My Albert tells me that I 
1 must not travel on Wednesday, as I shall be much troubled on 
that day with cramps." Shortly after, she awoke with the 
usual cramps. 
i At nine in the night, she was attacked with frightful cramps 
i and convulsions, which lasted till half past eleven, and termi- 
nated at length in a general rigidity. Those about her feared 
i for her life. Motion and life, however, returned by degrees, 
1 and along with them waking consciousness. I learned further 
from my sister, that she had wept and prayed much in the 
j crisis of that day, and at one time pronounced audibly the 
following lines : — 

Holy to live and happy die, 
Glorious then again to rise, 
And with the just enjoy on high, 
To evil men denied, the prize — 
What happiness can greater be ? 
Is this, dear Lord, reserved for me I 

From the 6th to the 15th of May, there occurred no more 



52 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

magnetic sleeps ; but, on the other hand, she suffered much 
from qualms and cramps of the breast and stomach. Some- 
times a transient state of rigidity took place in particular limbs, 
and sometimes she felt in them shooting pains. Her mood, for 
the most part, was sad and tearful. 

May 16th. 

R. reached Schwaikheim this day at eleven o'clock in the 
afternoon. In half an hour after she arrived, the magnetic sleep 
made its appearance, having been preceded by sick stomach and 
cramps lasting about ten minutes. Scarcely was she magneti- 
cally waking, when her features, hitherto expressive of suffering, 
cleared up, she testified lively joy at being again near me, and 
spoke with evident satisfaction of the sensation of relief which 
was caused by my laying my hand upon her stomach. " Mean 
time, she said, I will not speak much to day, for I am exhausted 
by the journey." Agreeably to her wish, she was left to rest 
quietly on a sofa, and no further questions were put to her. 
About half-past one she began to speak of her own accord : Ah, 
how much I am strengthened ! God be thanked, that I am 
permitted to be here once more ! Had you been with me in R. 
I should have been spared much suffering. But it was so or- 
dered. I have fallen back much in my health from this long 
absence. My connection with you was already constituted, 
and I now feel, for the first time, that its severance was atten- 
ded with bad consequences for me. But every thing will go on, 
slowly to be sure, but well. What is lost can be recovered ; it 
is not too late. (A pause.) Such was God's will, and that 
must always be done, cost what it may. (She weeps, folds her 
hands and prays.) Yes, Thy mercy extends to me also, Thou 
God of truth. I, too, am a plant in Thy garden — Thou hast 
blessed me hitherto with infinite love ; Thou wilt continue 
still to do so. In the height of its bloom it is, that the plant 
requires peculiar protection ; that protection do Thou afford to 
me. Firmly I believe, that Thou wilt be to me a prop, leaning 
on which, the storms of life will pass over me harmless. No, I 
am not planted for this rough earth alone ; I am destined to 
bloom again there in the everlasting garden of my God. (A 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 53 

pause.) I feel very warm ; be so good as to blow lightly into 
my face. (I did so ; whereupon she said smilingly :) Your 
breath smells like the most delicate fragrance of apricots.* 
It cools and refreshes me. (After some time my mother 
stepped into the chamber, when suddenly her whole body 
began to tremble ; the same thing had occurred just be- 
fore at the entrance of my brother C. I asked her 
therefore : cannot something be done to prevent your being 
so much agitated when any one enters the chamber? She re- 
plied : " Nothing can be done for this ; I cannot change it, nei- 
ther can you. It is the consequence of my excitable state ; it 
always pains me when persons approach me, be they who they 
will, yourself excepted. But especially painful and oppressive 
to me are those whose influence upon my nerves does not cor- 
respond to yours ; it always gives rise to cramps. That which 
animates my nerves, too, is often not in harmony with that which 
animates the nerves of others. I cannot tell you what that is, 
and much less the nature of this diversity ; but I know from 
my Albert, in whom I see it, that the cause can lie both in the body 
and in the spirit. The state of the health and mode of life have 
an effect, and not less, the person's principles and dispositions. 
(These expressions I drew from her by a series of questions, 
which are omitted for the sake of brevity.) But how can you, 
when persons approach you, seen at a distance, feel them pain- 
fully 1 " Every man, even one awake and in health, has an atmos- 
phere,! which has a certain extension. That of persons in the 
magnetic state is wider than that of the healthy. When the 



* That the blood nourishes itself with suitable matters from the air in- 
spired, is evident from the immense abundance of odors and exhalations 
that are continually issuing from shrubberies, gardens and plantations, and 
from the immense quantity of salts of various kinds issuing with water 
from land, rivers and lakes, and from the immense quantity of manure and 
animal exhalations and effluvia with which the air is impregnated. That 
these enter the lungs with the air cannot be denied. And as this is the 
case, it cannot be denied that the blood attracts therefrom such things as 
are servicable to it, and those things are servicable that correspond to the 
affections of its love. — That men in the world impregnate their blood with 
similar things according to correspondence of their love, follows of 
consequence ; for what a man's spirit loves, that, according to correspon- 
dence, his blood craves and attracts in respiration. — D. L. W. 420. 

t There goes out, yea flows forth from every man a spiritual sphere from 
the affections of his love, which encompasses him and infuses itself into 



54 History of the case. 

two come in contact and blend, there arises in me, as being 
the more excitable, that sense of pain to which I can give no 
name, and which the healthy cannot experience at all. With 
you, however, it is the opposite ; near you, I feel comfortably, 
because that w T hich animates our nerves is in agreement." But 
will it not be well, that in your crisis another besides myself 
should be present in the chamber? "It is advisable, by all 
means, in order to avoid evil surmises ; however, I beg that no j 
one besides yourself may come near me while I am asleep. It 
is my wish as well as yours ; by degrees, however, I shall 
accustom myself to the presence of others. At first, indeed, it 
would be best for me to be alone with you." What do you 
mean by the words : at first ] "I mean the first attacks, which 
will follow each other in quick succession. In these, at their 
commencement, I could wish to be alone with you for a short 
time, which I will mark out, until your influence over me is 
restored to its destined state. In narrow chambers, the presence 
of strangers just at that time operates much more distressingly 
upon our atmospheres.' ' This point can be attended to, so long 
as you direct. (She now desired to rest some time longer, and 
accordingly lay quiet for about twenty minutes. Suddenly a 
general cramp shook her whole system, and she awoke cheerful 
and strengthened, about half past two.) 

7 to 10, P. M. 

The whole of the afternoon R. was comfortable. About six 
o'clock she complained of a desire to vomit, and afterwards, of 
difficulty of breathing ; about a quarter past six, she was obliged 
to lie down, as she could scarcely move her feet, which felt as if 
asleep. About seven, the usual introductory cramps made their 
appearance. After they had ceased, which was in ten minutes, 
she sighed deeply, and with a pleasant smile raised her hands 
and arms as if towards some beloved object at a distance, and 
exclaimed : " Now you are again nearer to me, my dear Albert, 

the natural sphere which encompasses him, so that the two spheres are 
conjoined. — A. C. 4 / l / 10. 

For spheres are, as it were, the atmospheres of spirits in which thev 
live s. I) 3817. V y 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 55 

j your heavenly power pervades me again strongly ; oh, how I 
thank you. (A pause.) Ah, only see, he is again quite near 
you ; a stream of light proceeds from him to you ; I see it quite 
plainly. How resplendent is the sight!" (While I was drink- 
ing beer from a glass, I observed that as often as I swallowed 
! she did the like. I said therefore :) You seem to relish the 
beer. " Yes — it is very good. You joke and laugh at such a 
c thing, but it is so. I do indeed taste it." But you took none of 
j it into your mouth, and yet you swallow and taste it 1 How am 
I to understand this ] (She smiles.) ' ' That surprises you, but 
j yet it is very natural. I share your bodily sensations, even 
t your motions I am often obliged to imitate." Whence does 
this come? *' I can only feel through you. My life and yours 
have become one life ; that which gives life and feeling has 
become so in common to us both that we are not two persons." 
Still, I do not understand how you can feel what I feel. 4{ Ima- 
gine my body now as in a state approaching death ; the power 
through which we feel we both of us have in common, and 
when you taste any thing, I taste it of necessity also, through 
that which gives us life in common, which all living beings 
have and which I cannot give a name to."* Why do your 
mouth and neck move when I swallow % This is without an 
object, if you have the sense and taste of what I take while 
your stomach does not receive any thing 1 " It proceeds from 
the fact that I am not dead." I do not understand it. " Under- 
stand me, I pray you. I am still alive, even as to the body. 
My soul is still in my body, but attached to it only slightly, so 
that it lies as it were powerless. The soul still exercises a 
control over it, the body obeying, because it is present, all its 
behests. But this control it exercises only when you will have 
it. And so my body does w T hat you will." But I did not will 
you to swallow ? " My soul also depends on you through the 
body. When you swallow my soul feels an impulse forthwith 
to do the same. Henceforth this will happen more frequently, 
because I shall come yet more closely in connection with you. 



* All animals 3 great and small, derive their origin from the spiritual 
principle in the ultimate or natural degree.—-/). L. W. 346. 



56 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

Subsequently it will happen more seldom, and at last cease 
entirely.' ' (After some time I put to my nose a bottle of 
Cologne water which my brother had handed me. Here the cor- 
rectness of the explanation she had given manifested itself com- 
pletely — at least as to the result. The scent of this article had 
never been pleasant to me, while she, in the waking state, was 
very fond of it. Nevertheless she said, the moment I ap- 
proached the bottle to my nose :) " Oh, do not ; it is disagree- 
able to me. (A pause.) Lay your hand, if you please, some- 
what higher on the pit of my stomach, and endeavor to operate 
healingly upon me by your vital power through the hand." 
How can I do this, and what suggested this thought to you 1 
" My Albert just told me to say it." But how shall I set about 
if? " Albert says you have only to will." (I did as she di- 
rected me, and immediately her body rose by degrees, so that 
it rested only on the top of her head and on her heels. The 
motion and posture somewhat startled me, and she all at once 
sank back, saying ;) Do not be afraid ; it is well, very well — 
so it must be — you must not indeed make passes, but your 
part must be performed through the hand. (I had risen from 
my seat.) "Ah, now I see you better." Whence is that? 
" Because I see through the stomach ; I see more clearly too, 
because you are pressing your hand more firmly. While 
you were sitting, I did not see you entirely. I saw your hand, 
and your head through your hand. But it is not always so. 
My soul is often confined, as it were, by a spell to the pit of 
the stomach, and at such times can only look out from this 
point as through an aperture. Soon again it sees, (but only for 
a moment,) my own and your body entire. It is, as though it 
were leaving the body and re-entering it, by fits and starts.* 
But my Albert tells me I must now rest. (She lies quietly for 
about an hour with her arms crossed, as usual, over her breast* 
After this she begins to speak again, of her own accord :) Ah, 
Albert, how glorious is the sight you show me !" Where are 
you with Albert? "In the sun." Are you alone with Albert 
there 1 " No, there are many beings here whom I do not 



* When T had let my spirit into the body I was not seen by you, but 
when T had let it out of the body, I was seen.— T. C. R. 280. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 57 

know. I arnon a different part of the sun, from that which I was 
lately permitted to enter. Oh, how delightful this state is to 
me ; my life receives nourishment, my soul gets food here. 
Every thing healthful is assembled here. Yes, in this way I 
cannot but recover." What do you find healthful to you in the 
sun 7 — " Life flows into me here ; but Albert says I am to stay 
here only a short time with my soul, to prepare me for passing 
to the evening-star, which at present is better for me." You 
speak very strange things. Your body is on earth ; how can 
you speak of remedies which your soul fetches for your body in 
the sun 1 " Why should I not say so, when it is really the 
case 1 My'Albert says, that my soul takes from the vital power 
of the sun a portion to itself, and it is still united to the body. 
There is nothing inconceivable about this ; however, Albert 
says it is so, and you must believe it. In Venus, he says, it is 
the same. Only the influence of this planet operates differently 
on my life." To this I can say nothing, except that I do not 
comprehend it. " Your doubts are not agreeable to my Al- 
bert." I did not say I doubted. " But such was your thought." 
(Here she was right.) When will you be transported into 
Venus 7 u In fourteen minutes from this time — and till then I 
must lie quite still and only talk in silence with my Albert." 
(In a quarter of an hour she moved her arms joyfully and said :) 
Now I am there." Where? u In the evening-star. Here, 
also, every thing is very fair : but its living force is not so pene- 
trating as that of the sun, although the influence of the sun is 
milder and softer. Here, however, I am to be ; it is better for 
my health. (A pause of several minutes.) " Where I am 
now the heat is not great." Can the soul then feel heat also? 
It is not indeed heat, but something at least related to it ; it is 
higher than earthly heat ;* I cannot give it a name, and yet it 
comes, my Albert says, from the sun.f My soul feels it, and 



*The heat of the world does not enter the heavens at all, because it is 
too gross, and is natural and not spiritual. — H. fy H. 135. 

t Something shall now be said concerning the heat of heaven. The 
heat of heaven in its essence is love. It proceeds from the Lord as a 
sun, which sun is the divine love in the Lord and from the Lord. — 
H. $ H. 133. 

That love, proceeding from the Lord as a sun, is felt in heaven as heat ? 
3* 



58 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

for us magnetics this temperature is just the fitting one." Are 
you alone with Albert there 1 " No, Albert has with him be- 
sides myself three other female patients who are all magnetic, 
but in a higher degree than myself. They are magnetized 
artificially. They are all of about my age, and will recover as 
well as myself?" Who is with them when Albert is not? 
" They have their guardian-spirits, like all others, and their 
physicians who magnetize them." How comes it that Albert, 
who is your guardian-spirit, takes care of their persons also, 
who yet have, as you say, their own guardian-spirits ? " That 
is the ordination of God, and Albert loves greatly this business, 
which is now committed to him as his employment in the higher 
life. This is his business, until he is permitted to enter into a 
higher sphere of activity ; but not exclusively so; he has much 
more to do. It is the highest pleasure to him to help, to deliver, 
to mitigate pain."* This is a calling I would gladly pursue be- 
yond the grave. " Be as good as he is, and this happiness may be 
your portion. O, even on earth, it is a blessed employment to do 
good ; but in the higher world it is recompensed a thousand fold.f 
(A longer pause.) If I could only repay you what you are now 
doing for me ! (A pause.) Still I can at least (laying her hand 
upon my still feeble stomach) say how matters stand with your 
health, and give you some relief. I see your stomach ; the beer you 
have drunk agrees with you ; only, drink no more than one glass 
until I allow you more. You need not fear for your stomach ; 
it is better than you think. All will come outright, if you drink 
water every day as usual, and are careful to take moderate ex- 
ercise." (The last words she spoke so low that I scarcely 
heard them.) Why do you speak so low! " My breast is 



is because the interiors of the angels, from the divine good which is from 
the Lord are in love, whence the exteriors which grow warm thence are 
in heat. From this it is, that in heaven heat and love so correspond to 
each other, that every one there js in heat such as the love he is in.— 

//. <y n. 135. 

* All the delights of heaven are conjoined with, and are in uses, because 
uses are the goods of Jove and charity in which the angels are. Where- 
fore every one lias delights such as the uses are, and likewise in such a 
decree aa is the affection of use. — //. ty II. 402. 

I To him who is good, all his states of good and truth, as of friendship, of 
charity, and of innocence, are recalled (in another life) with their delights 
and felicities immensely increased and multiplied.— A. C. 868. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 59 

much affected by the journey, and the two attacks of cramp before 
the sleep came on. Albert however says I may speak, and that 
it will not hurt me. But now I have a mind to rest a little; let 
your hand lie as it does now." (After a short time she began 
again ;) " My right side pains me ; sit more at ease, and the ten- 
sion in your right side will cease." (It was in my mind at the 
moment to change my seat, in order to relieve a cramp-like pain 
in my right side, occasioned by my uneasy posture.) At this 
juncture I was called away, and was so incautious as to turn 
suddenly from the patient, and go towards the chamber door. 
But I had scarcely left her bed, when she cried out, raised her 
hands and her body, inclining them towards me, and exclaimed — 
" Gracious Heaven ! What dragging pains in my breast ! I be- 
seech you, come back — I shall certainly die." (When I return- 
ed, she soon became quiet again, only her breathing continued 
some minutes stronger than usual, like that of a person heated 
by running. She begged me, whenever thereafter I had occa- 
sion to leave her r to tell her beforehand, and to part very slowly, 
and with the promise of returning speedily. Doing so at some 
subsequent times, no injurious consequences resulted from an 
absence not too much prolonged, even during a crisis.) " But 
now (she said soon after) my Albert will leave me shortly. His 
time is past, and I am to return to you again in the usual mode 
of life." Have you already left Venus ? " No, but Albert will 
accompany me back shortly." Are the other three somnam- 
bulists still there 1 " Only one of them." Why is this disease 
found chiefly with females ] " The peculiarity of their nervous 
system is the reason, and the mode of their bodily life in gene- 
ral. I cannot answer your question more particularly ; I do not 
rightly understand it myself, and my Albert is silent." When 
will the next crisis occur 1 " On the 19th, at nine in the morn- 
ing." Can you not so determine your crises hereafter, that my 
professional affairs will not suffer by them 1 " I cannot ; but 
my Albert, who has a considerate regard in every thing, will 
know how to manage this point. Ask him, I pray you, about 
it." (She looks upward to the right,* as usual when speaking 



* The second sort (of dreams) come by angelic spirits, particularly by 
those who are in front above to the right. — A. C, 1976. 



60 HISTOKY OF THE CASE. 

with Albert, without, however, entirely opening her eyes, and 
after a short pause, says :) " He will care for it ; be not con- 
cerned. (After an interval of rest.) Now, my soul, prepare to 
return to thy body of dust. (She prays.) It is thy will, O Father 
in Heaven, that it should be purified in this body. O, how 
blessed is Thy way with us poor mortals ! and I also may have a 
share in it. O, guard my will, Father, by Thy grace, that it may 
ever be acceptable to Thee ; fill me with faith and trust in Thee. 
Thou, Lord, knowest alone wherefore I must suffer so severely. 
Thou wilt turn it all to Thy honor, and to my salvation. Uphold 
in me, when I awake, the good purposes I have now taken ; 
Alas ! I am so weak, I fall so easily into temptation. Be Thou 
with me, and let me experience Thy help every moment. For the 
mercy, too, which Thou hast shown me this day, O Father, I thank 
Thee. Thou wilt again restore my body — I believe, I know it — 
to all its original soundness. My benefactor also, who devotes 
himself entirely to me, restore, 1 pray Thee, to health ; take him 
under Thy protection; be his Guide ; he will follow Thee. (A 
pause.) Oh, Albert, you are now to leave us ! O, you are good; 
we are neither of us so good as you — we still have this every- 
day body about us ; but we also can be as good as you, if we 
earnestly endeavor to overcome ourselves, and to be strong in 
all good. (After a short pause she is suddenly seized with a 
violent trembling ; a panting cough supervenes, lasting for a 
minute ; then follows a general quivering of the body, and she 
awakes.) 

The 17th and ISlh of May. 

Although our invalid had announced the next crisis on the 
19th of May, she fell unexpectedly, on the 17th at two o'clock in 
the afternoon, into a state, not indeed the same with her usual 
magnetic sleep, but yet very similar to it. At half-past one she 
complained of violent pains in the head, on account of which 
she asked me to lay my hand upon her head. I did so, and in 
a few minutes she felt relief, but directly fell into the sleep al- 
ready mentioned, in which her breathing was more heavy and 
audible than in a natural one, and she snored as often as I 
passed my hand on the top of her head. She made no answer 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 61 

when addressed, although her features moved convulsively. 
As little could she be awaked by calling and shaking. After 
she had lain a full hour in this state, her breathing all at once 
became shorter, her face was illuminated, and all its lineaments 
wore a joyous expression. I sat for a full hour on the sofa she 
occupied, reading in a book, without having touched her, except? 
as already mentioned, for a few moments at a time on the head. 
She then began all at once to speak of her own accord : — " Al- 
bert is not here." Why not] " He cannot visit me before the 
19th, nor do I require his help before that time." You see me, 
however 1 (Cheerfully.) " Why not ] You are sitting there in 
all the pride of learning." (She smiles.) You cannot tell, 
though, what I have been reading 1 Ct There you are much mis- 
taken; I cannot indeed read in your book at such a distance, 
but yet I know what you have read."* How can that be 1 
" You have been reading about the insane." (It was so ; I 
had before me Alexander Crichton's Investigations into the Na- 
ture and Origin of Madness.) But turn your attention to me 
for a while, and lay your left hand on my stomach] (As I did 
so, she said ;) I now see yet more distinctly into your soul ; I 
see now also where Albert is. Ah, he cannot come, but still 
he can see me, (A pause.) Lay your hand higher up, if you 
please, on the pit of my stomach. So! but — (slowly) — but — but" 
— What is if? what ails you? "You are somewhat weaken- 
ed because Albert is not here. I will ask him to remedy this 
difficulty. (Immediately her whole body begins to move convul- 
sively ; she turns pale, and lies for a minute motionless. Hereupon 
her color and cheerfulness return, and she says :) Albert is very 
good ; he has given help at once ; but it is'not in his power to 
come." How has he given help % " He has directed upon you 
a stream of light proceeding from his most interior self. Now 
I am quite easy ; you will feel no diminution of strength." (It 
was so, even after the crisis. She spoke no more now for a 
half hour, but lay still, and moved her lips only at times, as if 
she was speaking with some one. During this time I continued 



* Immediately, on their coming, they explored my memory in search of 
all that I knew : spirits can do this most dexterously ; for when they come 
to man, they see in his memory all things contained therein. — E. U. 11. 






62 HISTORY OP THE CASE. 



to read on in Crichton, and gave her none of my attention, al- 
though my hand still lay on the pit of her stomach. At length 
she appeared to get impatient at this, saying quickly :) " Leave 
those mad people to themselves and talk with me." — (I asked 
her :) Will not the state into which you have fallen so unex- 
pectedly to-day hurt you ? " O no, do not be apprehensive about 
that, attacks of this kind will often occur hereafter. I have 
been much put back by the interruption in the last few weeks '« 
What I have lost must now first of all be made good, and states 
of this kind contribute much to it. I am not yet so well as 
when I began in Schnaith. I must, to recover this loss, have 
some more attacks still." Will you then speak somewhat more 
distinctly and be more cheerful than hitherto ? " Certainly I 
shall. " Will you also see clearer and farther 1 " Yes, my re- 
covery will pursue a regular course ; towards the end, the at- 
tacks will be shorter, more seldom, more like the waking state. 
This will be a token that my restoration is at hand." 

Is the sleep in which you now are imperfectly magnetic 1 
11 It is now perfect, but it was not so in the first hour ; nor can I 
now see so far or in general detach myself so much from the 
body, as when Albert gives me strength for the purpose." I 
had supposed that this detaching was not a proof of higher pow- 
er, but of weakness. " That is true ; and Albert prevents, by 
his presence, the complete separation of my soul from the body ; 
but you can act more energetically upon me through Albert, 
and by your means that separation is promoted which is so bene- 
ficial to me. Then, too, I see every thing more clearly. To- 
morrow at seven o'clock I shall fall into a similar sleep, which, 
however, will not fitst long ; and in it I shall have no external 
bodily feeling : at times the usual consciousness will return for 
a few moments. Be near me then, when a cramp, of which I 
will apprise you, seizes my stomach, and lay your hand upon 
me. (A pause of several minutes. Suddenly she raises her 
whole body, stretches her arms towards me, and says rapidly :) 
I must tell you something. (At the same moment, however, she 
exclaims :) O Albert, I will certainly not tell it." (She trem- 
bles violently.) What has affected you so much ? " This hap- 
pens when Albert is not here. I am then often tempted to 
speak unadvisedly. But thank God ! he always sees me and 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 63 

knows what I am doing. Just now he turned to me quickly, as 
if angry, when I would have told you that, and I saw in him 
that it would not have been good to tell you of it." Is Albert 
still there ] " No, I saw him but for a moment. " Why would 
not that communication have been good for me 1 " Believe that 
it was for your good ; you will know it in a few days and then 
perceive how well it has all been. But now talk of something else* 
or rather I have somewhat to speak about, myself. You have made 
a new division of your scholars into classes ; it is a very good one ; 
but the people do not yet understand it ; and for that reason they 
! are somewhat dissatisfied ; but do not be uneasy — that will pass. 
;It will be the same w r ith that way of noticing the faults of the 
j school which you have established, if you proceed cautiously 
j and, especially at first, with indulgence. People do not yet 
•rightly comprehend the nature of your plans with them. Indi- 
vidual malcontents treat gently and softly, and even they will 
be appeased after a time. (A pause.) 1 shall now awake 
j shortly and feel stronger. When I am awake, remind me that 
) I must take a walk every morning, of an hour, or an hour and a 
\ half. I must first drink two glasses of water ; the water of 
I this place agrees with me, but still I must not leave the house 
• before half past five in the morning." Tell me before you 
wake, whether your soul is now separated from your body and 
in some distant place 1 " No, my soul is with my body, although 
not entirely united with it. It is always balancing unsteadily ; 
at one time it leaves the body partially, at another returns. It 
is like a wave. Every impression which I receive through you, 
be it ever so trifling, makes a change here. A thought, a wish 
i that arises in your mind and affects you but the least, elevates 
it my soul or depresses it." What should be the state of my 
mind in order to elevate your soul 1 — " Cheerful and free from 
care ; that, however is what you are at present. But it is now 
time for me to return ; to-morrow evening at seven o'clock, a half 
sleep ; the day after, at two in the afternoon, my Albert comes 
again. Now — now — see — I awake. (All at once she trembled 
slightly and awoke.) 

The ISth of May, 7 P. M. 

From six o'clock, sudden startings, pains in the stomach, 



64 HISTORY OF THE CASE, 

qualms, and cramp in the bowels began to alternate with one 
another. At a quarter before seven, R. saw nothing with her 
left eye, though awake and fully conscious. The pupil, com- 
pared with that of the right eye, was unduly dilated ; the left 
eye also was turned upwards, while the other kept its natural 
direction. This lasted seven minutes, whereupon violent 
spasms came on, which continued till seven o'clock. Her 
breathing, which a little before had been so oppressed, became 
all at once scarcely audible, and seemed at length quite sus- 
pended. The pulse was extremely slender and weak, yet not 
quicker than usual ; her limbs lay as if palsied, and her features 
had the paleness of death. This state frightened me, because 
it continued more than a quarter of an hour. I breathed 
steadily for a minute on the pit of the stomach, whereupon, 
after a deep sigh, she gave signs of magnetic consciousness, 
and made several ineffectual attempts to speak. By degrees 
she began to move her arms, and the first thing she did with her 
hands, was to point to her mouth. Upon examination, I found 
that the jaws were closed convulsively. Breathing on the 
mouth did no good ; but R. seized my two thumbs and laid the 
ends of them upon the joints of the jaw, which immediately 
restored its motion. Meantime the tongue also was paralyzed, 
and after making various signs with her hands, which I could 
not understand, she at length took my hand and laid it on her 
stomach. After some time she laid her hand upon my breast, 
and gave tokens of thought and reflection in her features. 
Suddenly she half opened her eyes, turned her head towards 
me, looked at me fixedly in such a way as to startle and thrill 
me. and drew her hand quickly back. It seemed as if appre- 
hension was delineated in her face. The whole scene im- 
parted to me a kind of horror, which was increased by observing 
her ineffectual attempts to speak with me. These emotions of 
mine she also felt immediately, in consequence of which she 
began to tremble, and broke out into tears. As soon as I com- 
posed myself, she too became more quiet. Subsequently she 
laid her hand upon my forehead, the meaning of which I could 
not learn. She also made, from time to time, various singular, 
and apparently unmeaning motions and turnings with the arms. 
To ascertain, therefore, whether she was conscious of her 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 65 

actions, I asked her whether she could see into my body. She 
nodded assent. How are things in my stomach ? In reply to 
this question, she laid her hand upon my stomach, and shrugged 
her shoulders, smiling. Why did you lay your hand on my 
breast ? To this no token of a reply was given. In the last 
ten minutes before eight, she made visible efforts again to 
speak, but without success. About eight she awoke after a 
slight trembling of the arms and legs, and for some time after 
waking could not speak distinctly, but only in a broken and 
stammering way. This difficulty disappeared only after I had 
touched her tongue for about a minute with my fore-finger. 

19th of May, 2 to 5, P. M. 

The cramps which ushered in the crisis of this day were in- 
considerable and short, but the qualms preceding them lasted 
longer than usual. A few minutes after two, R. was already 
magnetically awake, and forthwith inclined to speak. "To- 
day, she began, your influence on me is very strong." Whence 
does this arise? " A bodily change has taken place. At the 
present period, even when I seem to be awake, I am not quite 
so, like other persons. I shall see every thing which you wish 
to know very plainly. " Is Albert here? "Yes indeed, he 
means to take me with him to the sun, which he says will be 
of great service to me at this juncture. (A pause.) Now Albert 
is rising with me. To-day he is very fair.* (To me particularly,) 
lay your hand a little more firmly on the pit of my stomach. (A 
pause.) This time I miss the garlandf which I have always 
hitherto seen on my Albert's head. Instead of this he has to-day 
a wand, on which stand the words : "For thee also redemp- 
tion !"J Do you see these words written on his wand ] " Not 
written, they are only on it." In German characters? "O 



* The angels are not constantly in the same state as to love, and thence 
neither in the same as to wisdom. 

With the state of the interiors which are of the love and wisdom of the 
angels, are changed also the states of various things which are without 
them and appear before their eyes. — H. <$ r H. 155 and 156. 

t Some then, who have been of an infantile mind and a simple faith, 
appear to themselves in white and shining garments ; some with crowns. 
—A. C. 2699. 

t TJie Lord thus redeemed not only men, but also angels. — T. C. R. 121. 



66 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

no, in heavenly signs* which bear no resemblance to our let- 
ters."f And yet these signs, if they are such, have, I suppose, 
a certain form ] Yes, truly, but here it is only a single sign 
which has the signification I have given. { At present I can 
say nothing more particular on this point ; perhaps I can explain 
it hereafter. It would also cost me too great a bodily effort, 
should I attempt an explanation, notwithstanding I receive pe- 
culiar strength in the sun. (A pause.) In general these matters 
cannot properly be explained, because those who are not in my 
state, have no idea of what is going on, where I am : I cannot 
myself express it."} But what are those words designed to 
express to you ? " What they express to you and to every 
Christian." But why are they suggested to you just at this 
time 1 — " For the reason that they are not enough in my mind 
in the waking state, that is, because other things often appear 
to me more important, and I think with too little seriousness of 
my Redeemer. (A pause.) Ah, if my present perceptions and 
feelings could pass over with me into the waking state, how 
happy a circumstance it would be ! My soul would take there- 
by a heaven-ward direction. But still an impression of what I 
now see and feel will remain with me when I wake, and do 
me good. (After a silence, during which she had prayed with 
folded hands, she speaks aloud :) 

Thanks to Thee, gracious Lord, for Thy Word's inspired Light. 
Grant me to hear it ever, with affections deep and right. 
O purify my heart from all its vanities, 
And let thy Word shed light upon my path always. 



* They have the Word thus written in the inferior heavens and in the 
inmost heaven, by heavenly forms. — H. fy H. 261. 

t Because the angels have speech, and their speech is a speech oi 
words, therefore they have also writings, and by writings they express 
the sentiments of their mind as well as by speech. 

The writing in the inmost heaven consists of various inflected and 
circumflected forms. 

But in the inferior heavens there are not such writings, the writings in 
these heavens are similar to writings in the world in similar letters, but 
still not intelligible to man, because they are in angelic language. — H. 4' 
H. 258, 260, 261. 

X This writing also involves in a few words more than a man can 
describe by several pages. — H. ty H. 261. 

$ These differences being of such a nature cannot be expressed or 
described by natural language, for the thoughts of angels being spiritual 
do not fall into natural ideas ; they can only be expressed and described 
by the angels themselves, in their own language, words and writings, and 
not by human ones.—/). L. W. 202. 






HISTORY OF THE^CASE. 67 

Whence do you know these verses'? She makes no an- 
swer — but soon proceeds :) 

The word reveals the cross and that heals ev'ry wound ; 
The cross before has made peace in my heart abound ; 
Make it then more dear to me and dearer ev'ry day; 
Who clings to that is safe, come here or there what may. 

Whence do you know these verses ] " That I cannot say. I 
only know them." Have you read them any where before this ? 

j ■ I cannot remember doing so." How then did you come by this 
poetry ? " I saw the verses here." Where 1 " Here in the 
sun. I was permitted to pray with Albert in a temple ;* I saw 
them in bright characters as I looked upwards, not inscribed on 

I any thing but as it were floating at large.f But there are only 
three characters which I saw having the meaning I stated. (A 
pause.) O, my deepest soul is penetrated by Thy grace. O 
God, give me the humility I stand so much in need of. (She 
turns in a friendly and serious manner to me :) And you also, 
who are showing me so much kindness, endeavor after increas- 
ing humility before God. You are nothing, altogether nothing, 
without Him. Acknowledge this more and more deeply, and 
then He w T ill take pleasure in you. His help will never be 
wanting to us, if we call upon Him for support in this endeavor. 
Especially, never forget to thank Him for your bodily deliver- 
ance. He has rescued you from death ; forget it never. I pray 
for you, as do others also ; for me this is a holy duty of grati- 
tude ; for you it is doubly a duty. You do it, I know ; but do 
not grow weary. (After a pause.) You are moved ; I see deep 
into your soul ; the splendor that surrounds you has become 
clearer. (A silent interval of some length, during which she 
raises her hands clasped together and weeps. After some time 
she says more calmly :) I would like you to speak with me. ; ' 
May I put a question to you 1 " Ask without hesitation." You 
laid your hand, yesterday evening, on my breast ; why did 



* At the dawn of day, they heard a proclamation, to-day is the Sab- 
bath ; and they arose and asked the Angel what that was for. He an- 
swered, " That it was for the worship of God, which returns at stated 
times, and is proclaimed by the priests. It is performed in our temples, 
and lasts about two hours." — T. C. R. 750. 

t There are also given in the heavens writings without the aid of the 
hand, from mere correspondence of the thoughts ; but these are not per- 
manent,— H. $ ff, 262, 



68 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

you do so? "I saw its interior state." Why did you draw it 
back ] " That I may not tell you just now ; such is my Albert's 
will ; you will however soon learn what at present I am obliged 
to suppress. I will rather tell you something else, which you 
would like to know." And what may that be ? "I mean the 
health of the members of your family." Your wife suffers from 
a pain in the abdomen which makes her uneasy. I see that it 
arises from a trifling cause. She has strained herself a little 
along the ribs of the right side. Rest and warmth will bring 
every thing right. Your sister M., complains of pain in the 
stomach ; but there is not much that can be done to help her. 
The outward bustle of the house is too great for her, and her 
spirit does not find a congenial employment in her present 
sphere. Until this changes she cannot get better. Let her eat 
calamus and pomegranate shells, they will at least afford her 
some alleviation. Your mother suffers with pain in the head, in 
consequence «f old age. A mind always active increases the 
difficulty ; the state of her hearing is also connected with this. 
Little can be done in this case. Tell her to bathe her temples 
daily with Cologne water. (Breaking off suddenly, she ex- 
claimed, anxious and trembling :) For God's sake ! Ah, Al- 
bert, help, rescue ! My Emily will fall out into the street; oh, 
hasten and save her ! (A short and anxious pause.) Thank 
God ! Help has already come. Thou faithful guide and friend, 
even before I knew the danger and could ask, you had pre- 
pared aid." What has so startled you 1 Alas, alas, my little 
sister in U." (She trembles violently all over.) What has 
happened to her ! She was in the upper story of the house, 
while they were raising wood up by a windlass from the 
street. She tried to seize the rope by which the weight was 
swinging, and the vibration would have drawn her out, as there 
is no balustrade above, if her father had not seized her at the 
moment and drawn her in. (A long pause lasting more than an 
hour, during which she lay quite motionless like one exhaust- 
ed ; after which she raises her arms and says :) Thou faithful 
God and Father, how do I thank Thee that Thou hast saved my 
sister from death ! Yes, she also shall thank Thee, and ac- 
knowledge Thy mercy. (Turning to me :) She was very 
much terrified, and my father not less so. They are now both 






HISTORY OF THE CASE. 69 

in the chamber, speaking of this wonderful deliverance. My 
brother Fritz is there too. (A pause.) But to me also, God 
has opened the ways of His love : by your means I shall now 
r be restored to health. All the medicines I have taken have 
^done me harm. Had I continued them, the result would have 
: 'been bad. Ah, and I should have given up dancing too, al- 
though my physician allowed it. My chest has suffered; I 
must take great care to avoid inflammation in it. But now, Al- 
bert says, I must rest for some time, at least must not speak. 
(After a half hour she moves and turns to me :) " You are 
silent, talk with me." Well then, tell me how it was possible 
" for you to be with Albert in the sun, to be speaking with us at 
the same time, and just now to look at your sister? " That 
seems to you strange ; but it is not so. It was all by the con- 
trivance of my Albert. Without him I should not have seen 
\ my sister. He knew and foresaw the threatening disaster, and 
prevented it — in what way, I cannot see in him. This, how- 
ever, I did see in him, that he had Emily in his eye, and 
thus I was compelled to see her also ; he chose to have it so, 
and I could not prevent it. But this took place with a rapidity 
you cannot imagine. Albert's movement towards my sister 
drew me suddenly thither, while I was yet speaking with you. 
But I can easily talk with you while I am with Albert in the 
sun.* My soul too, is swift as thought. And reflect that Al- 
bert, though with me in the sun, can yet operate on my body 
with you, if he pleases — and it does please him so often as he 
visits me." (A pause.) What is the state of things in that 
part of the sun where you are now 1 " in. the region of the 
sun where I now am, the temperature is perfectly adapted to my 
state. There are high mountains there, covered with plants 
which cannot in any wise be comprehended among us.f Their 
shape is wondrously contrived, and they draw their life more 
from above and from without, than from the sun. It is a 



* I told them (the angels,) that with the body, I was in the natural world, 
I but with the spirit in your spiritual world. — F. C. R. 675. 

1 1 have been in gardens ; I have there looked at trees, fruits, flowers, 
and pulse ; I have observed the correspondences in heaven, and have 
spoken with those with whom they were, and have been instructed 
whence they were and what they were.— H. fy H. 109. 



70 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

wonderful thing ; if you could only see it, you would be as- 
tonished and worship. No man understands these glorious 
things. (She prays.) Great and glorious are Thy works, 
Thou unsearchable God ! Who can comprehend what Thou 
doest ! Who trace Thee in Thy ways ! O keep us weak 
creatures in Thy mercy, and ever give us increasing light to 
acknowledge and thankfully to adore Thy wisdom and Thy 
goodness."* (A pause of some length. Suddenly she begins 
to tremble and weep.) What has happened to you? — Albert 
has brought me back to the earth ; ah, and there I saw just 
now, by his will, a man in Augsburg, whose guardian he should 
have been. But he behaved so roughly and so impiously, that 
Albert was obliged to turn from him.f Ah, he is now sad,J very 
sad, and that makes me so sorry." (She is taken with cramps, 
considerably more violent and long, than those which preceded 
the attack, yet resembling those already frequently described. 
In eight minutes she wakes up cheerful and strong.) It is further 
to be observed that' she fixed the next magnetic sleep on the 
20th of May, at six o'clock in the evening. 

The wonderful rescue of her sister Emily occurring in the 
crisis just narrated, was fully confirmed afterwards. The 
following were the circumstances. We did not fail, after the 
crisis of the 20th, immediately to make inquiries in A. if any 
thing unusual had taken place with R.'s sister on the day men- 
tioned. We soon received the following, to us very surprising, 
account. "On the afternoon of the 19th, some time after four, 
some persons were employed on the upper floor of the house, 
in raising stuff from the street by means of a windlass. The 
little Emily had a mind to have a hand in the work, and in- 
cautiously laid hold of the rope by which the weight was hang- 



* In consequence of the divine essence itself being Love and Wisdom, 
all things in the universe, have relation to good and truth. — D. L. W. 31. 

t Angels when they are with men, as it were, dwell in their affections, 
and are near a man, so far as he is in good from truths, but are more 
remote in proportion as his life is distant from good. — H. fy H. 391. 

X When the angels are in the last state, which is when they are in 
their proprium, they begin to become sad : I have spoken with them 
when they were in that state, and have seen the sadness : but they said, 
that they were in the hope soon to return to the pristine state, and thus 
as it were again into heaven j for it is heaven to them to be withheld 
from proprium. — H. fy H. 160. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 71 

trig, without considering that the opening at which she stood 
had no balustrade. As it, together with its load was in con- 
tinual vibration^ and the child of course had not strength to 
control its momentum, she was on the point of being carried 
out by it. She had already lost her balance and uttered only 
one cry. At this moment her father, who had come behind 
flier, seized her by the clothes and drew her in. Terror so 
^overpowered the child, that she lost all consciousness, and they 
'were obliged to carry her down in a swoon into the sitting- 
-room, where, however, she soon recovered her senses." To 
Hhese accounts the following very remarkable fact was added. 
3 So early as half past three, her father, who was writing in the 
I chancery at some distance from his residence, felt a restless- 
ness he could not account for, which increased at last into an 
impulse, equally inexplicable, to go home. For a long time he 
resisted it, as his business was not yet finished and he was com- 
pelled to say to himself that he had nothing to do there ; but at last, 
the attraction homeward had become so imperative, that, to relieve 
1 the feeling, he seized his papers with the intention of finishing 
] them at home. When he reached the house he directed his 
i steps forthwith to the upper floor, without depositing the papers, 
9 which formed a considerable bundle, in the sitting-room, close 
\ by the door of which he had to pass, and came just in time to 
I save his child from the certain death of a fall from the gable 
of the house into the street. A moment later, and help would 
) have been impossible. 

Thus far the facts of the case. The explanation I have en- 
i deavored to give in the chapter on Presentiments. 

9, P. M. 

About this time I received notice quite unexpectedly, as I was 
already in my chamber, that R. had been seized with cramps 
and was lying insensible. I hastened to her, and found her in 
the magnetic sleep. Scarcely had she recognized me when she 
said : " Sit down if you please, directly by my bed, so that I can 
reach your stomach with my left hand. Albert has seen that 
you have brought on a fit of indigestion by eating butter. Be- 
sides which, a portion of my cramps in the stomach passed over 
to you this morning, while laying your hand upon me in Albert's 



7 j HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

absence. Your stomach is thus doubly affected. For this rea- 
Albert called me into this state, in order to restore to you 
through me what you had lost and to remove your indisposition. 
(Cheerfully.) At this moment I see into your stomach. It is 
much better ; see, how it turns ! It rejoices me that I can be 
your physician this time, as you generally are mine." It was 
really as she said. About five o'clock I had taken some butter 
with bread not sufficiently baked, which caused me oppression 
of the stomach, gaping and drowsiness. Just before I got word 
of Iv.'s attack, I had frequent eructation and apprehended a sleep- 
night. I now sat down, as my unexpected physician desir- 
ed me, by the bed ; whereupon, holding her right arm up in the air 
with three fingers extended, she laid the palm of her hand on 
my stomach, so to convey vital force from Albert through her 
right hand, breast, and left arm into my stomach. In a few 
minutes I really experienced a surprising heat in the abdomen, 
and shortly also in the right foot down to the toes, and at length 
a sense of comfort that I had not experienced the whole day in 
an equal degree. All indisposition was gone at the end of eight 
minutes, whereupon I fetched a deep breath and said; Now I 
teel quite well again. " Not entirely yet, she replied. You 
have need of me yet for some minutes. (Shortly after this, I 
felt a painful cramp in the upper part of the left arm extending 
towards the ear. She laid her hand on this part also and the 
pain ceased in two minutes. She now dashed her hand this 
way and that, and then said :) That was the cramp derived 
from you ; you now feel quite comfortably ; you will sleep well. 
Were this not the case, your treatment of me to-morrow would 
have proved inconvenient to you. It is all right. But now leave 
DM to myself.' 1 1 should like yet to ask you a question. " To- 
day I cannot and dare not answer any more. (At these words 
i rumbled violently, and the sleep which had lasted some- 
what less than half an hour was terminated. Astonished she 
now asked :) J low did you get here I What would you have ? 
I lave 1 already slept !" 

May 20th, 6 to 9, P. M. 

Alter passing through the preparatory cramps and agitations 
!ic body quite similar to the earlier ones, R. lay with a 



HISTORY OF THE CASE, 73 

smiling countenance for more than a half an hour, held fast my 
hand, which I had placed after the cramps on her stomach, and 
moved her lips only at intervals. At length she said distinctly, 
changing the cast of her face to a bantering but still kindly ex- 
pression : — " To day you have heaps of questions to put ; re- 
lieve yourself of the burden, which I begin already to feel 
myself." By all means I must ask you something touching 
your own and my relations to Albert. *' Your doubts are end- 
less ; but go on with your questions." How did it happen that 
the pain in your stomach was transferred from you, as you say 
yourself, to me, when yet Albert promised, some time since, that 
the relation into which I had come with you should not be in- 
jurious to me] <c My Albert spoke truly; where is the mischief 
which has befallen you 1 You do not mean to complain of the 
weariness you experience in laying on your hand, as of an in- 
jury that has come upon you !" Do not be angry, I only sought 
for information. " I know it, and will therefore tell you what I 
see in my Albert." Is he here 1 " Yes, since I was awake. 
Listen then. (What follows she spoke not only, as usual, slowly 
and somewhat low, but also at various intervals which I have 
not always indicated.) My Albert has indeed promised, 
that the magnetic relation into which you have come with 
me shall not be of any hurt to you. This does not mean, 
however, that you are to be free from all, even the transient 
inconveniences connected necessarily therewith. My body 
and yours, when I am in the magnetic sleep, are as it were 
only one ; your soul and mine are, so to speak, united to- 
gether by a closely drawn tie. My body shares every, even the 
slightest, pain of yours, and I am obliged to sympathize with 
every one of your moods and tendencies. You would share my 
bodily affections more frequently than you do, if Albert did not 
always impart new vitality through you. This direction of the 
stream from you to me, which is also, though not uniformly, pro- 
moted by your will, makes the communication of my bodily ail- 
ments to you more difficult, but still not impossible. If Albert is 
not here, it may happen in the waking state, that you get a 
small part of my indisposition ; it has already been the case ; but 
it can never last very long, or hurt you permanently. Without 
Albert's help your vital efflux is always weaker ; without him, 

4 



7 4 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 



you could give me relief, in my present state, only at your own 
expense." (Suddenly R. starts violently ; there are tokens of 
pain visible in her countenance, and her left hand moves hither 
and thither as if she feels pain in it.) What ails you ? " I am 
with Albert in the sun; there are besides two females with him, 
who are also magnetized ; I have spoken of them before. My 
Albert just now broke off the stem of a flower he had plucked, 
by which the bud was hanging, with the words : " As I cast 
away this bud, so shall your disease be taken away. You have 
suffered enough ; be now sound." These words he directed to 
one of the two magnetics, who is now entirely restored ; but at 
the same time he so threw the bud that it fell from the head of 
the magnetic on my hand. This was the cause of the pain ; I 
received in this way a part of her essence, and it will be of 
benefit to me ; so Albert says." The fantasies you are telling us 
are altogether too strange. How can it be thought possible, 
that by means of a flower-bud falling on you in the sun, your 
body in Schwaikheim should be affected with pain 1 These are 
matters I cannot believe. " Judge not too precipitately, dear 
friend ; the matter is quite simple and plain. You call in ques- 
tion the possibility of my feeling the pain through the body; 
this you should not do. Reflect that my soul, now in the sun, 
can be as easily affected there, as by you. There, indeed, the 
impression is yet stronger and much more powerful.* More- 
over, my soul is surrounded and pervaded by the vital fluid 
through which it feels and gives feeling to the body. This is 
all coherent. Believe me, the impression on the soul was much 
stronger than on the body ; the former felt it like an electric 
shock. Your^vital efflux also has accompanied me to the sun. 
The flower produced an impression on the substance of my soul, 
the nature of which I can neither understand nor communicate • 



1 <> the above I shall add tins memorable relation. I was onre seized 
M.ld.nly with a dtteaae that seemed to threaten my life. I suffered ex- 
gmatmg pain all over mv Lead ; a pestilential smoke ascended from that 
J ..rusal,.,,. which iH called Sodom and Egypt ; half dead wi the se^er tv 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 75 

I never had a feeling like it. It was not fall, nor pressure, nor 
I shock : I can give it no name ; but the reaction on my body 
was perceptible to my sensations, exactly as when the soul feels 
through the body a sudden blow by which it is greatly startled. 
This mutual action is much more sensible in a state like my 
present one. But now Albert wishes me to rest for fourteen 
minutes. (After this time had passed, during which there were 
j frequent contortions of the muscles of the face, particularly of 
j the lips, she said :) " You wish to ask more questions, do you 
j not V 9 Yes : how comes it that Albert yesterday chose you for 
the medium of communicating his power to me, notwithstanding 
j you maintained before, that Albert could not and might not ope- 
] rate upon you immediately without injury ? " You forget that 
] before Albert operates on me I always enter into communion 
J with your powers both of body and soul. This takes place 
, most intimately, when the cramps before the magnetic waking 
, state are passed, and you lay your hand on me. If Albert now 
( desires to operate on me or yourself, it is not done immediately, 
since his celestial power is blended with our mutual vitality. 
It is then entirely at his option, what direction his healing life- 
stream takes within the magnetic circle, whether through you 
into me, or vice versa, or whether into you alone without pas- 
sing through my body. In the last case, however, his operation 
on you is not immediate, but tempered, and, so to speak, hu- 
f manized by my life-stream and your own, which have blended 
together. Now, last night, when I was so happy as to be your 
physician, Albert so ordered it that a vital ray, proceeding from 
1 his interior and received by our life in common should pass into 
* my body ; and from it, working healingly by this transition, 
stream over into you. In this way, he says, it was good to af- 
1 feet you, and the result has proved it. O doubt no more, I be- 
' seech you ; my Albert always knows better than we what and 
j how all is to be ordered. Now I am to rest again, my Albert 
, says, and then to look into my body. (She lies still for half an 
I hour ; at length she speaks again :) My lungs look badly ; there 
I are some spots on the right lobe, which will yet give me trouble. 
Still no incurable affection of the breast will arise from them* 
I I shall not, when waking, take sufficient care of myself, although 



gg HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

you and others will warn me, and I shall have to suffer for it.* 
At present I see also into your stomach ; things are well there 
—better than in ray lungs. You may cherish a well grounded 
expectation to see the last trace of that affection gradually dis- 
appearing, if you are particularly careful in regard to your diet, 
and do not grow indifferent." (She now speaks quite low to 
herself; it was plain, however, from her looks that she was 
employed in questions and answers, for which reason I ask, after 
gome time :) Are you speaking with Albert? " Yes." What 
is the subject of your conversation 1 " Of that you are to know 
nothing ; such is my Albert's will. If I should undertake to 
tell you, my tongue would immediately be paralyzed again ; so, 
speak no more of it ; something else rather ; you have yet an- 
other question on your lips V 9 Yes ; but can you also tell what 
1 would ask you about? (She thinks for some time, pressing 
my hand meanwhile more closely to the pit of her stomaeh, 
and then says, somewhat out of humor :) " It is the old thing 
over again ; I can give you no explanations besides 
those you have already had." You are mistaken. The 
question I wished to ask I have never yet put to you. (She 
presses my hand again and more closely to the pit of her 
stomach, and seems for several minutes to be reflecting silently ; 
at length she says in a pleasant manner :) u Yes, you are right ; 
it was not what I supposed. It is your wish, is it not, to learn 
from Albert something relating to me and yourself?" It is; 
try now whether you can find out what it is from Albert's looks, 
or in me. (R. is silent for some time ; soon she begins to tremble, 
becomes pale and stiff, and her breath seems to be entirely gone. 
When I perceived these appearances, which, as I had called 
them forth, caused me to feel uneasy, I rose and breathed 
several times on her stomach, whereupon, after a deep sigh, her 
consciousness returned. Scarcely had she again taken my 
hand, when she said :) Yes, it is something quite other than 
Albert's personality and the influx of light from him into me 
wliich you desire to know." What is it then? "You wish to 



An inflammation of the lungs, with which R. was attacked some 

montha after her recovery, and which brought her to the brink of the 

tjives significance to this expression.— Note by the Author. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 7 

know about the operations of my soul, when your and Albert's 

• influence are brought to bear upon me." Exactly, it is the very 
'* thing I wished to know ; you astonish me. (She smiles.) " When 
-I shall have answered your question, it will no longer appear to 

you so extraordinary that I could know it." But tell me first 
'of all, why you had so violent an attack just now. " I had a 

mind to see in my Albert what you wished to ask about ; but I 
' saw nothing, as he was peremptory that I should read it in your 

• soul.* This cost me a considerable effort on account of the 
v waving of your life-stream, which appeared at onetime clearer, 

at another more obscure ; your will, also, was not always direc- 
< ted to it with equal intensity. Thence came the struggle ; I 

• was not unconscious ; I was much more clairvoyant than now, 
J since my body lay as if dead. But I must give an answer to 

1 your question. My Albert tells me thus. As soon as the 
i cramps begin, my spirit and my soul are loosened from the 
] body. The more noble of the two, the spirit, leaves first, the 
> soul follows it. The influx of yourself and Albert helps with 
c the cramps to bring about this severance. These would ope- 
j rate destructively on my body, if you and Albert did not control 
' their energy. But my soul continues, however, still with the 
: body. You are not, nevertheless, to think of the soul as being 

bound to one place, as a person is bound. As soon as it leaves 
I its body, it is not with the body like a person, and yet it is with 
it ; it is both near and far from it. It has now a wide field of 
| vision, and is there principally where it works, perceives, or 
' feels. f These, however, are only different names for one and 
! the same employment. It continues all the while in connec- 
tion with the body ; even when apparently dead, it still lives 
in it ; were it separated entirely, actual death would be the 



* For when spirits come to man, they enter into all his memory, and 
excite thence whatever suits themselves ; yea, what I have often observed, 
they read the things contained therein as out of a book. — E. U. 13. 

t Since by the spirit of man is meant his mind, therefore by being in the 
spirit which is sometimes said in the Word, is meant a state of the mind 
separate from the body ; and because in that state, the prophets saw such 
things as exist m the spiritual world, therefore that is called the vision of 
God. Their state then was such as that of spirits themselves is, and 
angels in that world. In that state, the spirit of man, like his mind as to 
sight, may be transported from place to place, the body remaining in its 
own.— T. C. R. 157. 



78 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

consequence." Is every magnetic crisis, then, a kind of deaths 
"Yes, it is just so; we might call each magnetic sleep the 
commencement of death." What part is performed in all this 
by the nerves of your brain?—" For the most part none what- 
ever, although vital power still streams into them from my 
soul ; this takes place in so low a degree that they are of neces- 
sity thrown out of activity. So it is often with all parts of my 
body ; and then my soul is farther separated and more free from 
the body; for the most part, however, it still stands in need of 
the body in order for perception. It sounds no doubt oddly, 
when I say : I see through the stomach or the forehead ; but 
my soul, notwithstanding, sees quite otherwise than it can 
through the eye, hears otherwise, feels and observes all more 
perfectly than before.* How it is I cannot explain ; I do not 
know myself, as Albert is silent on the subject ; and if I did 
understand it, I should want words to explain, and you could 
not comprehend it. Thus much only I can say, that I seem 
often to behold every thing at once, but this only for a moment ; 
then I often see nothing, and again some particular object. If 
I could always see so perfectly, I should be dead. So long as 
I can speak with you, I perceive for the most part what you 
say, and your thoughts, which I read, are a guide to me. If I 
speak with Albert alone, the power of his soul exercises a 
strong attraction and force upon me ; hence I often rise a great 
distance with him, because he is so pure, so good, so holy, and 
withal so strong."f But how is the spirit united with the soul 1 
And what is the difference between the two ? " The spirit 



* For man when he enters the spiritual world or the life after death, is 
in a body as in the world. 

Hut slill the difference between the life of man in the spiritual world, 
and his life in the natural world, is great, as well with respect to the 
external senses and their affections, as with respect to the internal senses 
ami their affections. Those who are in heaven perceive by the senses, 
thai is, they see and hear, much more exquisitely, and also think more 
wisely, than when they were in the world : for they see from the light of 
heaven, Which exceeds by many degrees the light of the world ; they 
hear also l>y a spiritual atmosphere, which likewise by many degrees 
ei thi t of .ho earth. — II. fy H. 

tSuch were the ancient times ; w herefore angels could then converge 
with men, and convey their minds, almost separate from things corporeal 
into beaven.-%E. U. 4U. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 79 

can receive into itself the Highest;* the soul can only think and 

feel it." I do not understand. " The Divine can be essentially 

in the spirit, and the soul forms itself after the spirit. The soul 

has something corporeal about it,f the spirit has not; it is 

united with the body only through the soul. And yet soul and 

spirit are only one % % not divided ; they are blended, melted 

together. Only the spirit is the abiding, the soul is changeable, 

shaping itself after the spirit. But I am now exhausted, and 

must rest. Albert orders it too. (She now T lies quietly till a 

a quarter before nine, when she went on as follows :) I shall 

now wake up. Albert leaves me. My next sleep will occur 

the day after to-morrow, at six in the evening. To-morrow I 

shall be attacked with great qualms, but it will not come to a 

sleep. The day after, C. and M., your wife and mother, can be 

I present, if they wish it, during the greater part of the sleep ; 

j I shall be able, now, to bear them better when both together. 

j (At this moment my child, a boy of four years and a half, raises 

; a cry at the door, opens it and leads in with great joy and pride 

I a wooden horse. R. observes him as soon as he gets into the 

; chamber, and says ;) O, bring the little fellow to me ; his 

, presence produces a very good effect on me ; he is so childlike, 

\ so affectionate, so good ! When he grows up, my Albert says 

j he will guard him.§ In those years when more heavy tempta- 

\ tions beset him, he will take him into his special care. He is a 

\ very good child. Albert takes great delight in him; you too 



* Every angel, as well as every man, has an inmost or supreme degree, 
or a certain inmost or supreme state, into which the Lord's Divine Essence 
is first of all or proximately influent, and from which He arranges the 
other interior states, which they have in succession according to the 
degrees of order. This inmost or supreme state may be called the Lord's 
entrance to an angel, and to man, and His veriest habitation with them. — 
H. $ H. 39. 

t Thence it follows that the human mind is organized inwardly, of 
spiritual substances, and outwardly, of natural substances, and lastly, of 
material substances. — T. C. R. 38. 

s t It is a tenet of angelic wisdom that the mind of a man is a man, 
because God is man, and that the body (i. e. the spiritual body) is the 
external of the mind, that feels and acts, and that thus they are one and 
not two.— D. L. W. 369. 

§ And as they (infants,) grow up and come to the exercise of their own 
right and their own reason, the guardian angels leave them, and they asso- 
ciate to themselves such spirits as make one with their life and faith. — 
T. C. R. 677, 



80 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

will experience much joy from him. (A pause, during which 
she holds the boy by the hand, who gazes in wonder at one 
asleep, yet speaking intones so unusually solemn.) Corporeally 
he has also much from you ; and for this reason too it is so 
beneficial to have him near me. (She now lays her hand on 
his head and says :) God bless thee, dear child! O God, take 
his heart into Thy keeping, that it may remain good !" (After 
these words she sinks back on the bed, begins to tremble and 
develope her usual cramps. They last only five or six minutes, 
and terminate with a loud groaning, and a sudden, violent 
agitation of the body, upon which she immediately opens her 
eyes.) 

May 21s*. 

A little after four in the afternoon, R. experiences nausea, 
succeeded by unconsciousness, and finally a stiffening of the 
whole body. In three quarters of an hour the rigidity was 
relaxed by my laying on my hand and breathing on the pit of her 
stomach, when she recovered her speech. * To-day, she said, I 
am in a peculiar state, which has come on from weakness in 
consequence of my present singular bodily indisposition. I am 
only half magnetized, and see at times very clearly, but often 
scarcely at all. I hear with the left ear and see, now from my eyes, 
now from the pit of the stomach, but at this moment, besides 
you, nothing in the world." Make the attempt once to see through 
your fc re head. (She made a visible effort to comply with my 
wish, the muscles of the forehead moved, and she said after a 
few minutes :) " I now see you through the forehead." Can 
you now see again through the eyes, if I desire it] "Yes, I 
can. (She moves her eyes and the skin of the forehead for some 
time.) Now I see through the eyes." How can you effect that ? 
" How, 1 do not know ; I make the effort and do it. (Directly 
she transferred the seat of vision again to the forehead, obser- 
ving at the same time :) It seems as if a trap or a curtain fell 
all at once from before my forehead, when I have a mind to see 
through it, or as if a sliding-windovv were pushed this way and 
that But I cannot explain to you how it happens. (Hereupon 
I observe, that when she saw through the forehead, the eyes 
had a fixed and sidelong look, which was not the case when she 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 81 

said she saw with her eyes. She said further :) At this time 
I do not see my Albert either ; still I know that he sees me, and 
does not overlook me. I feel that he will come to us yet for a 
moment and communicate something to you." How can that 
be 1 " You will hear it ; I do not know it. (In this condition 
R. was much more cheerful than in the proper and perfect 
magnetic state. She was more friendly than usual, and could 
even — a thing she did not like at other times in the crisis and 
tolerated least of all in me — jest occasionally, and laugh heartily. 
She was aJso able, while she lay in this half-sleep, to look into dis- 
tant places here and there on the earth. She saw her sisters in 
U. as they were taking a meal together in the 6itting-room, and 
looked at R. in the kitchen of the rectory, where she saw my 
sister L. engaged in preparations for supper. In particular she 
observed more than once, that L. went hither and thither fre- 
quently in the kitchen, but was somewhat out of humor because 
she had a head-ache. In this state she remembered also, that 
she was much better pleased in her waking life with the name 
of R. than of Felicitas, which last she could not bear. At 
length becoming more serious she said :) I see my Albert com- 
ing ; he is here ; what he has to tell you concerns myself alone." 
What is it] — Can you now tell it 1 " He bids me tell you, that 
you must now forthwith, for seven minutes, press my two 
knees firmly together with your hands, and at the same time 
press downwards, and support the pressure downwards with 
your will." What good will this do] "It will relieve me 
greatly ; only do it. Just now it will be of particular service 
to me." (When I had gone through this manipulation her face 
brightened more than usual ; she rose with the upper part of 
her body, notwithstanding she had crossed her hands over her 
breast, in a free and gradual manner towards me, so that I be- 
gan to feel somewhat awed, and said :) t; Thou faithful helper !" 
(and thereupon lay quietly and slowly down again.) Why did 
you rise towards me I " You attracted me, but immediately 
repelled me again. For a moment you withdrew your power 
from me entirely." Why so 1 " The way in which I rose up 
was something new and surprising to you ; you were startled 
at it, and I felt your emotion." Yes, such was the case — but 
l ell me how can you talk with Albert ; how does he make him- 

*4 



g2 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

self understood by you ! " He speaks nothing ; I see in him all 
that he wills and thinks !* Even when he is friendly and smiles, 
he does not do it with the mouth ; he speaks and thinks and 
wishes all with his whole being at once. Just now he said to me 
or rather gave me to understand, that I would have done well 
had I followed the advice given to me early in the morning, and 
left off my corslets. Had I done so, the operation on the knees 
this evening would have been unnecessary. (At half-past five 
R. awakes, after some qualms like those experienced about four, 
without any cramps or agitations of the body.) 

May 22d, 6 to 9, P. M. 

Unusually violent and long continued cramps preceded this 
time the magnetic sleep. The chest was especially affected, 
and her respiration ceased so entirely for half a minute, while 
the movements of the body and the anxious countenance indica- 
ted a struggling for breath, that I felt apprehensive for the life 
of the sufferer. However, she became more quiet about half- 
past six, her limbs gradually extended for the last violent agi- 
tations which always preceded the magnetic awakening, and 
- hoy had passed, her features brightened up, and in a 
short time she began to speak pleasantly of her own accord ; 
O God, Thou dealest with me lovingly and like a Father. 
Thou hast again sent him to me, my faithful physician, who in 
my troubles never leaves me. (She folds her hands.) Heart- 
felt thanks to Thee for the same. Still care for me, Thy suffer- 
ing child; Thou wilt do so; I know it well. Art Thou not 
my Father, my All 1 (After a short pause, to me :) Lay your 
hand now somewhat higher on the pit of my stomach. (To 
Albert:) and you have not come alone, my guardian] What 
have you brought with you for me ] (A pause.) Ah ! a glo- 
rious flower ] Such a one saw I never yet ;f the purple of its 
cup burns like fire ; and how majestically it stands by my Al- 
bert's Bide ! (She pondprs.) Truly this flower has great 

There is also speech (among the angels) by gestures corresponding 
to the affections, and representing things similar to what are represented 
by words.- //. g //. 244. 

ere are also species of trees and flowers there, which are no 
Where seen, nor can exist in iho world.— if. ty //. 176. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 83 

meaning for me ; I see this in Albert." What meaning 1 li I 
do not know altogether, as yet, but I shall learn it. It is quite 
like you." Like mel " So I said." I cannot imagine that I 
have any resemblance to a flower. " Still it is so." How is 
that possible? " I cannot as yet see rightly ; but there is cer- 
tainly a relation in the flower to us. When I learn more 
about it, I will communicate it to you." I am in truth very cu- 
rious to know how it is ; describe me the flower, I pray, by its 
exterior. tc It is a noble, majestic plant, more than six feet 
high : it is as tall as my Albert, and stands at his side." Is it 
a plant like any which we have on earth 1 " Yes, but only par- 
tially so ; it has a stalk and leaves, and a gloriously beautiful flower 
of a purple color adorns its summit, and has the shape of a 
cup. The colors are fair beyond those of earth ;* the green of 
the leaves and the red of the flowers is embroidered as it were 
with many golden beams, threads and points. The stalk is con- 
stantly flaming upwards in splendid light, as if a stream of 
golden light were coursing through it without intermission. " 
Has the plant roots also ] " No, here it is different ; the flower 
does not draw its life and vigor from any solid body, but im- 
bibes them from without." Is it broken off, that Albert could 
bring it with him? and where do such flowers grow ] "In the 
sun there are many such plants ; they float at large, and do not, 
like the plants in our world, adhere to the bodies in the sun. 
Thus they exist, attracting the vital force of the sun, as it were, 
independently. They receive no gross sap through roots for 
their nourishment, like earthly plants." It needs a strong faith 
to believe this, my good Seeress. (Offended.) *'• My Albert 
tells me so, and you are at liberty to believe it or not, as you 
like. But you will yet hear much which you must re- 
ceive without being able to comprehend it. But now I 
wish to be alone with Albert for twenty-eight minutes. 
(She lays her hands over her breast and lies exactly that length 
of time without moving. During this interval I was struck with 
the phenomenon which had manifested itself in her last half- 
sleep when her body was attracted towards in e. I made the 

* Colors are seen in the other life which so far surpass in brilliancy and 
lustre the splendid colors of the world, that they can scarcely be com- 
pared together. — A. C. 4530. 



84 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

trial, as she was lying thus still, so to operate upon her through 
a fixed purpose that her body should follow the attraction of 
mine. For this end I held the thumbs of my two hands at the 
distance of about three inches from her, willing that they should 
adhere to mine. Scarcely had I done so, when her arms opened 
by successive jerks or hitches, and she rose again with the 
upper part of her body towards me. I drew back, and she 
continued to follow me, until I feared she would fall at last out 
of bed. I therefore changed my direction again, gradually 
approaching her feet. The upper part of her person still fol- 
lowed me ; on which occasion I was struck with the fact, that 
when I approached my forehead to hers it followed mine, while 
at the 6ame time her arm, when I approached my thumb to it 
and made a motion opposite to that of the head, turned towards 
my thumb and so to the opposite side, so that one part of her 
body could be drawn in one direction, the other in the other. I 
now left the chamber for a moment. When I returned and 
took a seat by her bed, she said quickly :) You smell strangely ; 
what have you about you ] (She imitated the sound and the 
movement of smelling with the nose.) You have something 
peculiar about you. What is it ?" I do not know what you 
smell. (She became more and more restless and excited, did 
not lie still a moment, and all her limbs, even the head and the 
muscles of the face, began to play in a lively manner. Mean- 
while I took in all silence an armed magnet, which I had just 
brought and had hitherto concealed in the breast pocket of my coat 
where it had been about two feet from her, held it enclosed in 
my left hand, and laid it upon her stomach. Scarcely had I done 
this, when she began to tremble lightly, then to laugh, to sing 
at intervals, and to make the oddest motions. Every moment she 
declared :) M Ah, that is good, very good ; but remove it, take it 
away." When I went to remove it, she grasped my hand 
and would not let it go. At length I lifted it about a foot 
above her stomach, whereupon her body rose to that height, so that 
she rested only on her heels and her head. This however 
seemed to exhaust her ; for which reason I laid the stone on 
B table which stood near. Doubtless I executed this movement 
suddenly ; for she said very quickly and with some ill— 
humor : " Ah, that pulls and tears me again ! Can you not 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 85 

then proceed more gently with me 1 You should not have 
removed the stone from me so suddenly ; I had almost fallen 
into cramps from it." Do you know then the name of the stone 1 
Yes, it is a stone magnet, and I can assure you that it operates 
on me very beneficially : only remove the iron bands (the arma- 
ture) that are on it ; they make it too strong for me. You will 
do it, will you not] Do it immediately, I beg of you ; I love 
the stone, I long for it, and wish to lay it to my heart. (When 
the armature of the magnet was removed, she seized it, highly 
delighted, and did not quit it during the whole of the crisis, 
always maintaining that it was healing to her. After she had 
pressed it to her breast, perhaps seven or eight minutes, she 
said quickly :) This helps me to understand the flower better." 
What] "The stone." What does it show you about the 
flower? " That it is a remedy." How 1 A remedy for your- 
self 1 " Yes, for me, and all who are in my condition. Its 
power, which it diffuses like a delightful odor,* fills me and 
contributes to my recovery. This fragrance is exactly like 
your breath, and its power is like your vital power, and has some 
resemblance to the power of the stone and the heavenly power 
of my Albert. Ah, this is all excellent ; here every thing works 
together to make me well again. See, now I know why I com- 
pared you with the flower ; your and Albert's effect upon me 
is similar to it." But you said a little since, that the stone 
smelt " strangely" : it would seem that the smell was not 
pleasant to you. " Yes, such was the fact ; but now the iron is 
away ; that spoiled the smell." But to what end a remedy like 
this, when you have my vital force and Albert's also 1 Or are 
not these sufficient ! " O, your influence is but too powerful ; 
that of the flower is much milder, and yet different from that of 
the stone, which operates with least energy. Just at this time, 
when I feel uncomfortably, the flower works to most advantage. 
This my Albert was aware of, and therefore brought it with 
him." Does it still continue near Albert ? " Yes, there it is, 
shining in all its beauty." How comes it that the magnet 
excited your smell first ] " That I do not know ; it is the case 



* And there the common delight is perceived in heaven as the smell of 
a garden, with variety according to the fragrances there from the flowers 
and fruits.— D. P. 304. 



85 HISTOKV OF THE CASE. 

probably with all magnetics. Albert says nothing on the sub- 
ject ; perhaps we should not understand the explanation. (My 
sister M. being present she desired that R. would describe 
her guardian spirit. When I made her acquainted with this 
wish she said :) Your sister has also felt a wish that I should 
greet my Albert from her. (Smiling.) I have done so, and it 
has pleased him very much. He did not know M., but became 
acquainted with her first through myself and you ;* at this 
moment he is looking on her very kindly." How does your 
Albert look ? On his countenance there rests ever a gentle, 
heavenly expression of friendliness ; his eyes are blue ; his 
cheeks are slightly colored, as if the color were breathed upon 
them ; his hair is clear brown ; he has a fine Grecian nose, a 
lofty forehead, a face somewhat long, and a pleasing, friendly 
mouth. His hand is very fine ; his build strong and tall ; in his 
bearing there is something majestic ; his look is spiritual and 
pure, and a heavenly seriousness rests on his forehead. His 
clothing is brilliant white, and on his head rests a wreath of 
palms. O Albert, how fair thou art ! His whole is unspeakably 
glorious. (A pause.) Amandus, my Albert's friend, approaches, 
us ; I am rejoiced to see him again. He is now standing at 
his side and is looking towards me." Has Amandus been here 
some time 1 " Yes, he came with Albert, but afterwards went 
away. He was here a short time ago, when I had the violent 
cramps. These lasted so long, because Albert was not here 
immediately ; he had something important to attend to. 
Amandus longed for him to come ; he also had to talk with 
him ; on what subject, I do not know. (A pause.) Oh see, 
Albert is holding in his hand a leaf on which my name is 
written ; it rejoices Amandus, and he looks at me smilingly." 
Which of your names is inscribed there] "The right one, 
that by which Amandus knows me, and every other spirit would 
know me. You cannot comprehend this name; it cannot 



Neither spirits nor angels, by their own proper sight, can see any thing 
that if in the natural world — nevertheless hoih spirits and angels, when it 
s the Lord, can see things in the iiatur.il world through the eyes of 
man. E. V 135. 

They who speak with the angels of heaven, also see those things 
which are in heaven, because they see from the light of heaven, in which 
their interiors are ; the angels also see through them the things which are 
on the earth, II <y u. 252. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 87 

be written in our characters ; it is only one sign which 
yet expresses me and my whole nature.* Can you imi- 
tate this sign with a lead pencil 1 " I will make the 
attempt/' (All at once R. becomes stiff and pale ; the 
lower jaw is fixed for several minutes, and the power of 
speech gone. By breathing several times on the stomach 
and mouth speech and motion are restored again.) How 
came on this sudden attack ] 4< Albert will not allow me 
to write that sign ; it would cost me too great an effort, and be 
hurtful to me. He chose to indicate his will to you in this 
way." This was a pretty hard indication, however, for you. 
(She smiles.) " O no, I felt nothing of it ; it seems to you 
worse than it was ; it was only a sudden subtraction of power, 
which did me no kind of harm." But why was your name 
written on a leaf] " " That I do not know, but I see from Albert 
that I shall yet learn the cause. Now I must rest again for 
fourteen minutes. (This interval having passed, she said very 
sadly:) Only think, Amandus has gone again." For what 
reason ? " His employment summoned him away; but I shall 
see him again shortly." What affairs has he gone upon? 
u I do not know them ; my Albert says, that he will yet instruct 
me on that point, that it is not yet time for that." You take so 
warm an interest in this Amandus — who is he then? "Alas, I 
am always on the point of knowing him, but do not make it out. 
I love him greatly, and when I ask Albert, he only smiles, and 
does not tell me ; it makes me right sad. When he wishes me 
not to see any thing in him, I cannot, although he knows it. But 
now I must look, my Albert says, into my own body and tell 
you the state of things there. I have spots on the neck which 
return at intervals and have an ugly look. They do not indeed 
hurt me, but still I could wish them away. They spring from 
my liver and the irregularity of my periods. " You are then a 



* Every one is named (in the spiritual world) according to the quality of 
of his love and wisdom ; for as soon as any one comes into society or par- 
ticipation with others, he is forthwith named according to his quality there ; 
the naming is done by spiritual speech, which is such that it can give a 
name to every thing; hecause there eacli letter in the alphabet signifies 
one thing, and* the several letters joined into one word, which makes a per- 
son's name, involve the entire state of the thing. — D. P. 230. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

little vain, still ! (She smiles almost imperceptibly.) " If we 
can remove such things without harm we may and should do 
it." What must be done to prevent these spots ? «' The juice 
of the house-leek must be expressed and suffered to drop upon 
them, and then be rubbed in for a while with the finger. I 
should like it, if you would press out the juice, and wet a linen 
rag with it, and lay it on me." I will do so. " If you repeat 
this thrice in seven days, they will disappear. Do not think, I 
pray, that I wish them removed, from vanity. They disfigure 
me, and that, to be sure, is not pleasant; but I know too that 
if they are neglected, they may easily degenerate into tetters. 
" Be at rest, I will do as you tell me. (At this moment I re- 
ceived some letters from the hand of my brother C. There 
were two of them; I read them, while R. lay quiet. But 
scarcely had I taken out of my pocket and opened a third one 
which I had received in the course of the day but not com- 
municated to her, when she became restless, and said :) " This 
letter concerns me ; I feel it." (I folded the letter again, and 
laid it then on her stomach, with the question :) Who wrote it 1 
u It is my father's hand. (At these words she began to 
tremble and exclaimed :) " Ach Gott ! take the letter away ; my 
father, my good father !" Why, has any thing happened to 
him 1 " No, no, he is anxious about my health, and has not the 
right view with regard to it ; he knows nothing about mag- 
netism, and is now tormenting himself unnecessarily on my 
account. Do not read the letter to me, it would throw me into 
cramps. " But may I read it again myself] " Yes." (While 
I did so, she said with unusual vehemence;) What! that is 
too bad ; they even believe that I am bewitched. ,, How do 
you know that? " You just now read it." But I have read 
the letter already several hours ago ; how comes it that you did 
not know its contents earlier in the present crisis 1 " That is 
!y understood ; you know much that I do not know. Must 
I t hen know every thing that you do ?" No, but I cannot help 
being astonished that you know, only now, what you might 
have been acquainted with before. "That is not the case. 
What you do and think while I am asleep, cannot escape me. 
But what precedes I do not know, unless you remind me of it, 
or lead mo by your reflection and your express will thereto.' 1 






HISTORY OF THE CASE. 89 

(She suddenly becomes stiff and speechless. She was restored 
in about eight minutes by breathing on her.) Why were you 
all at once deprived of the power of speech ] (No answer 
followed. When I pressed my little finger on her teeth, her 
jaw quivered, and opened so far that I could touch her tongue ; 
I now asked her :) Can you speak ? " Not — not — not well yet ; 
but soon." What occasioned this attack ? " I wished to pene- 
trate more deeply into the contents of the letter than would 
have been for my good, when my Albert looked seriously at me, 
and I became unconscious and dumb." You permitted me, 
however, to read the letter, and said it would not hurt you. "It 
is true ; the reading of it as you did it this afternoon and just 
now again did me no harm ; it was only a very light and gene- 
ral impression which I received from it ; but digging and 
prying into its meaning, which was what I afterwards attempted 
myself, would not have been good for me, if Albert had not 
guarded against it. But now I must rest again until he leaves 
me." When will a new crisis occur? " To-morrow at nine in 
the forenoon." She folds her hands and prays in silence. Six 
minutes before nine she is seized with difficult breathing, a 
short, dry cough sets in which threatens to suffocate her. All 
at once it ceases : her arms and legs undergo violent agitations 
several times in succession, whereupon she awakes perfectly 
cheerful, and assures us that she feels very comfortably. 

May 23d, 9 to 12, A. M. 

The introductory cramps were less violent to-day than yester- 
day, though lasting somewhat longer ; for the rest, they were 
quite as they had been hitherto. Some time after they had 
ceased R. said : " Yes, you are again with me, faithful Albert. 
I may rely on you entirely. But you also are a servant of the 
great God,* Who alone is true and faithful. (A pause.) Alas — 
we men ! Weak uncertain creatures, how much must we put 
off before we reach your elevation, my Albert ! O selfish- 



* But all these employments of angels are functions of the Lord through 
the angels, for the angels perform them, not from themselves, but from 
the Lord.— H. $ H. 391. 



90 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

ness, this curse of our souls, it is the sole obstacle in the way 
of our perfection.* But you, my Albert, are led by the love 
which proceeds from the Father of love !f Oh, that I were as 
full of love as you are ! How happy were I then ; how would 
I make all about me happy !J (She prays.) O, give me power 
and spirit, Thou merciful God and Father, that I may learn to 
overcome myself ever more and more — and give myself up to 
the behests of Thy love. Help me to struggle, help me to 
conquer ! (She weeps in silence, the tears flowing down over 
her temples.) And into the heart of the friend who stands here 
at my side pour ever more and more of Love, that he may learn 
to bear, more willingly and submissively, what Thou hast laid 
upon him. (A pause.) The Spirit of Thy love is near us ; O 
Father, behold our hearts ; to Thee they are all open. Take 
us under Thy protection, and rejoice us with Thy favor. (A 
long and silent interval ; after which she says ;) Albert, it is a 
great pleasure you have again afforded me ; your friend Aman- 
dus has accompanied you again] (To me.) He is not so 
fair, so perfect as my Albert, but still he is very good."} How 
comes it, that Amandus at present comes to you for the 
most part with your Albert 1 " I see in Albert, that his 
friend has the same employment with himself. They are 
conversing together about it now." Does Amandus also 
help magnetics? "Yes, that is a part of his calling, but 
much else besides." For example, — "He, as well as my 
Albert, has it for his business, to instruct ignorant souls, 
and lead them to God and their salvation. || He will be permit- 



* Hence it is, that so far as any one is in self love, so far he removes 
himself from heaven, because from heavenly love. — H. #• H. 557. 

t That the Divine proceeding from the Lord, which affects the angels 
and makes Heaven, is love, all experience in Heaven testifies: for all 
who are there are forms of love and charity. — H. ty H. 17. 

| i low great the delight of Heaven is, may be manifest only from this, 
that it is a delight to all in Heaven, to communicate their delights and 
blessings to another — for, as was shown above, in the heavens, there is a 
communication of all with each, and of each with all. — H. fy H. 399. 

Hence it is, that the angels who are in the inmost heaven are the most 
beautiful, because they are forms of celestial love. J3ut those who have 
loved divine truths exteriorly, and thus have lived exteriorly according to 
them, arc less beautiful. — //. <jr IL 459. 

Then arc others who teach the simple good from the christian world, 
and If ad them into the wav to heaven— //. # II. 391. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 91 

ted shortly to become the guardian spirit of a man, as Albert has 
long been, and Albert is now preparing him for this end. He is 
not yet so perfect as Albert, but yet very good, oh, very good ; 
he is glad to learn from my Albert, and Albert treats him so 
lovingly." Why does this friend come to Albert, and just when 
you are in connection with him? "Amandus too loves me ; 
Albert has told him about me, and in consequence of this he 
takes a lively interest in me. (Suddenly she raises her arms, 
expresses great astonishment in her face, and then exclaims 
aloud ;) My God ! It is you ! Can it be you ? Is it possible? 
O, how am I rejoiced ! Some attraction was always drawing 
my soul to you. (To me :) Only see, how Albert and Aman- 
dus are enjoying my delighted astonishment !" You know I 
cannot see it ; tell me, therefore, what has so joyfully surprised 
you 1 Oh, think only, this Amandus is the deceased O. F. R. 
M. of U. How rejoiced I am at this ! Long ago, when I was 
a child, he was very fond of me. He has given me many a 
good lesson. Why, my Albert, have you kept this joyful intelli- 
gence back from me so long V 9 (A pause.) What was Albert's 
reply ? " The surprise, hitherto, would have been too great for 
my nervous system. O, what pleasure dear Amandus gives 
me ! When I was yet a child, he begged a piece of writing 
from me as a memorial. (A pause.) If I might only tell it to 

his W e ! But no, it must not be communicated." Will 

you still see him frequently ? " Yes, and it will always give me 
joy." What occasion have you for praying 1 "lam not pray- 
ing ; I was only beseeching my two venerated friends that they 
would pray for my highest interests. (A pause.) Amandus 
also is now looking at you ; he does not as yet see you quite 
clearly. Albert has told him who you are. (A pause.) Aman- 
dus pities my sufferings ; he knows my situation perfectly. He 
knows my parents too." Will he be with you during the whole 
of your sleep to-day ] " No, he is obliged to leave us shortly 
to help a sufferer like myself, in our own country." Where is 
this sufferer ] " Albert does not allow the question. (A pause.) 
Ah, could you only see my Albert; I should like you to enjoy 
this sight. Just now he is again standing by you, on your right." 
I should like it too. " Albert knows that you wish it. You have 
put down a question on your paper, he tells me at this moment, 



92 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

which relates to this matter. But he was with you already 
last night, when, without doubt, you slept soundly. He laid 
his hand on your head." I am surprised at what you say ; no 
one in the world knew any thing about this question. "Albert 
smiles and says, that he knew it when you first had it in your 
thoughts to put this question. Through him I learned that you 
had noted it down. O, I know still many things about you, 
which I do not tell you ; it would not be good for you should I 
do so ; and if I should attempt it, my tongue would be immedi- 
ately paralyzed. You had a very pleasant dream last night ; 
Albert was quite near you ;* can you not remember what you 
dreamed !" I remember a large, splendidly lighted church, in 
which I was to preach before thousands. I experienced a sink- 
ing of the spirit and uneasy feelings, at the prospect of speak- 
ing off, in an unusual place, before so many strange persons. In 
this distress, a clergyman, in the garb of his profession, stepped 
up to me, and asked me if I would let him preach in my place. 
Glad of this friendly offer, I gave the pulpit up to him. But 
how astonished was I, when he delivered the same sermon, word 
for word, which I had carefully committed to memory.f When 
the sermon was over, he came down the steps and found me be- 
low. As I was on the point of thanking him, he looked at me 
with a penetrating but friendly look, and I awoke. " Only 
think, Albert says, that was himself.f Can you call to mind 
his form 1 " O yes, it is very fresh in my mind, but it does not 
agree with that you delighted us with yesterday. "It could 
not have been otherwise ; Albert says, that he showed you his 
figure as it was during his life on earth. You have seen him 
also in your earliest youth ; but you will never remember him." 
But how comes it that you saw his form so very differently from 



* The third sort (of dreams) come by spirits who are near when man is 

:».— A. C. 1976. 
i Besidee,an angel or a spirit, when he comes to a man, and by turning 
10 him is conjoined to him, comes into all his memory, insomuch that he 
ICMeely Knows otherwise than that he knows from himself what the man 
I, tluis also languages. — 11. fy H. 246. 
| During the night 1 dreamed, and when I awoke I spake with two who 
■red in ihe dream, who acknowledged that they were the ones. It 
thence appeared that dreams are of a two-fold kind; one flows in from 
piriU, who act the part of the persons that are seen in the dreams and 
DieeMy aw tho dreaming appearance is.— S. L. Z>., pt. 2d, 38,877. 



HISTORY OF THE~CASE. 93 

myself? Neither did I see him with my bodily eyes ; would it 
not have been the same thing, had he shown himself to me in 
the dream, in his present essential form ? " O no, Albert says 
that even in a dream, such an impression would have been in- 
jurious to you." I have yet another doubt which prompts me 
to ask you a question. "Ask it by all means." You delineated 
Albert's form indeed beautifully, but mixed up in your sketch 
so much that was earthly, and even, if you will allow me to say 
it, contradictory, that I cannot believe you have given us an ac- 
curate account of your Albert. " Albert smiles, and tells me 
you are right ; I know not what to think of the matter. (An 
interval of silence, during which she seems to be thinking, and 
speaking with Albert. After some minutes she says cheerfully :) 
44 Ah, now I know what you mean. Albert has informed me. 
Even I, he says, though I stand now much higher than you, 
cannot as yet look at his essence exactly as it is, so long as I 
am united to the body. I could not endure it either ; I have 
only an approximate image of him.* Every thing, for example, 
of the nature of color which I saw about him, the red cheeks, 
the blue eyes, and the like, were additions which he gave me 
to see only in appearance, in order to veil his true interiors 
which would not have been supportable to me. In like manner 
I am not permitted to know the true name which he has there, 
because I could not comprehend it. Ah, it makes me right sad, 
that I cannot see my Albert as he is." (She weeps a long 
time.) This explanation gives me great joy, since it has re- 
moved scruples very natural to me in my position. (R. would 
not be soon comforted, and remained sad nearly half an hour, 
weeping and sighing continually. At length she said :) " Alas, 
my Albert is obliged to leave me for half an hour, to aid some 
dying person. f O, come back soon, I pray, dear guide ! Al- 
ready he is gone, and I no more see so clearly." Where have 
you been, since falling asleep, with Albert 1 " Here in Schwaik- 
heim with you and Amandus. The flower is not here this time." 



* There are several kinds of visions and they are the more perfect, in 
proportion as they are more interior. — A. C. 1786. 

t There are also some (angels) who are present to those who are raised 
from the dead.— H. $ H. 391. 



94 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

Why not again in the sun 1 " I do not know ; Albert thought 
it not best.° (After a pause.) Ah, I hear now with my right 
ear ; I see Albert at a great distance. (I laid my left hand on 
her eyes, which were open but quite fixed, whereupon she 
said :) When you do this, I always see you with my forehead, 
and then you are larger and more shining." But I am not 
made any larger by merely laying my hand on your eyes ; so 
that you must be again mistaken ! (Peevishly, gloomily and 
shortly :) " Mistaken ! You are always thinking about mis- 
takes ; I am not mistaken ; but I cannot explain the phe- 
nomenon at present." I am sorry for it; meanwhile it 
would gratify me, if you could. (The answer was yet shorter 
and sharper :) When I say I cannot, you must rest content. 
(This short repulse, not at all suiting her relations towards me, 
determined me to the following declaration :) I excuse your 
unbecoming speech, simply because 1 believe that you are not, 
now that Albert has left you, quite mistress of yourself; but I 
hereby enjoin you to be silent, and to say nothing until Albert 
appears again. (After about eighteen minutes, during which 
time she lay quite rigid, she evidently made efforts to speak. 
Her jaw was closed convulsively ; I breathed on her mouth, 
and it was relieved. She then said :) " I was wrong ; Albert 
has already given me a reproof on account of my ungentle con- 
duct ; forgive me ; I will take care not to repeat the fault. You 
were right ; Albert's presence was wanting to me, and I sud- 
denly fell back quite near to the earth again. Now, however, I 
can satisfy you on the subject of your doubts. When you laid 
your hand on my eyes, I saw you through the forehead, and 
much brighter. Your form had to me a more distinct outline 
than is usually the case ; hence you appeared to me just as you 
really are, and eo it happened that I took you to be larger. Of 
course you were not in fact any larger for it. When you now 
lay your hand on my eyes, I see my Albert also brighter, and, as 
it were, larger; this without doubt is a delusion on my part. 
I 1 ; r the reason that I then see Albert so clearly, your image 
falls a little into the back-ground, and is seemingly eclipsed by 
Albert's splendor,* which is much stronger than yours. It 

ThOM who are in this affection, or what is the same thing, in this love, 
-re in heavenly intelligence, and nhine in Heaven, as with the splendor 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 95 

was from this cause, you thought that I confounded you 
originally with Albert. Not so, I scarcely saw you any more. 
I have always considered you as distinct persons, as you indeed 
are. Oh, I often see you both very different in form, notwith- 
standing all your resemblance, and in different places. But 
Albert will yet convince you firmly, that he has a real existence 
and is no image of my fancy." That will give me great plea- 
sure. Only he must not use you as a medium for this purpose, 
as your bare assurances in the matter, very naturally, are not 
enough for me. " I understand you; Albert is amused at your 
doubts, which I cannot rightly comprehend ; me they do not 
please ; but he says he will confirm your faith soon. But now 
no more sceptical questions. I must rest for some time. (She 
rests a good while; at last she says :) Amandus is going. He 
is summoned away by his charge. He nods me once more a 
friendly farewell ! Farewell, good Amandus ; come to see me 
again soon. (A pause.) I feel very warm ; I pray you, blow 
lightly into my face. (I did so.) That cools me very pleasantly ; 
the sensation pervades my whole frame." Do you again smell 
any thing ? K Yes, your breath smells like apricots." (Jestingly.) 
I could not have thought so ethereal a fragrance was contained 
in my breath. " Jest on ; but I have the enjoyment of it." 
Allow me to ask you one thing more 1 "Do so." You said 
yesterday, that you saw your name written on a leaf in Albert's 
hand; can you tell me what that was for? "Now I can. 
Albert wished to give Amandus, who had known me formerly, 
an image of me." Did it require a written explanation for this 
end ? " Oh no, the thing is not as you think. Amandus had 
known me, in life, as a child ; Albert knew it would gratify him 
to represent me as I had become in my interiors since that 
period ; this Amandus could not see so clearly as Albert can. 
He gave him, accordingly, a kind of delineation of me, which is 
more than an image, or a name, or a cypher. This you can- 
not comprehend, there is more of essence* in the matter than 
you can understand, or I am able to explain. I do not myself 



of the expanse. They shine thus, because divine truth, wheresoever it is 
in Heaven, gives light. — H. $ H. 3-17. 

* It is worthy of remark that writings in the heaven's flow naturally 
from the thoughts themselves, and this so easily, that it is as if thought 
put itself forth.— H. $ H. 262. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

fully understand it, but the fact is so. That the delineation ap- 
peared to me as ray name on a leaf, was done by Albert for my 
sake. He meant to tell me thereby at the same time : As these 
characters, which signify you, beam with pure light, so your 
heart must become quite pure and bright. Thus the leaf was 
at the same time a symbol to me. (A pause.) To-morrow 
Albert will come again at six in the evening. Now, he is again 
called away ; but he will be here again immediately." Will 
your attack ever happen on Sunday ? IC Never in the morning ; 
if it occurs on Sunday, it will always be in the evening. You 
preach the word of God on this day ; you are not to be inter- 
rupted in this business ; Albert has so ordered it." Is Sun- 
day observed also in Albert's country 1 " Certainly ; the praise 
of the Most High is always celebrated there, but on that day 
more universally and more solemnly.* Albert has also a pecu^ 
liar employment on Sunday." Wherein does that consist ] " I 
do not see clearly ; probably he then gives instruction.! (A 
pause.) I am looking into your throat, which yesterday was 
hoarse ; it is now well." Yes, I was surprised at the sudden im- 
provement. (Smiling.) "It was Albert's will that I should 
take the malady on myself, and hence it came, that you lost 
your hoarseness to-day, while I have it now. (She was troubled 
with it for several days afterwards.) It will be easy for me to 
surmount it ; with your profession you would find it more diffi- 
cult." I thank you for having removed this inconvenience. 
4S None of that ; I have only proceeded according to Albert's 
will, and the transfer of your affection will not hurt me. But 
now my return is at hand. Albert has come again to give me 
back to the life of the earth. (A pause.) To-morrow at nine 
o'clock give me some raspberry-juice with water. I must not 
walk out in the morning to-morrow. Your brother C. has a 
swelling on the neck ; tell him to put on it a clay poultice, but 



' At ilie dawn of day we heard a proclamation : To-day is the Sabbath ; 
and they arose and asked the angel what that was for. He answered that 
it was lor the worship of God, which returns at stated times, and is pro- 
claimed by the priests. — T. C. It. 750. 

i Prom the above account it appears manifest, that spirits retain in the 
memory what they see and hear in another life, and that they are capa- 
ble o{' being instructed alike as when they were men in the world. — E, 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 97 

"warm; the clay must be baked. (A pause.) Now — now — I 
awake. Farewell ! my Albert." (The usual cramps come on and 
she wakes up strengthened.) 

May 2m 9 6 to 9, P. M. 

v 

R. had announced another crisis for this evening at six o'clock. 
To satisfy myself whether the occurrence of the cramps took 
place punctually at the time indicated, and with no agency on 
her part, I begged the members of my family, in answer to her 
question what time she had fixed for another sleep, to say five 
o'clock. This was done ; and thinking it would be no other- 
wise, she so arranged her affairs as that she should have them 
off her hands at that hour. As no attack occurred at five, and 
there were no signs of it so late as a quarter after, she thought 
she had made a mistake. I now asked her to go with us into 
the garden lying near the house, as it was warm and pleasant 
1 in the open air. She followed us, and was in a cheerful mood. 
J I must also observe, that I had put the mantel clock for- 
i ward a quarter of an hour, in the morning, so that it struck 
1 five and six sooner than it should by the sun. I had also, 
j without her knowledge, had all the watches in the house 
set, in the morning, with the mantel clock. Thus it struck 
.six, and R. still continued in lively spirits in the garden. 
] Under some pretence we now brought her back into the 
I chamber just as it struck a quarter to seven in the sitting 
I room. This clock had been exactly a quarter too fast by 
' my watch, an excellent time-piece, which alone I had not al- 
tered. The watch therefore pointed precisely to six— and 
scarcely had the first quarter struck, when the usual cramps, 
i the short, dry, hacking cough, and the trembling of the limbs 
j came on. R. was now quickly laid on the bed. In a few 
I minutes, after the accustomed general agitation of the body was 
j past, she said cheerfully : " How much trouble you have given 
| yourself to cheat me ! It was well that I left the garden and 
reached the chamber in time. You may set it down for the fu- 
! ture, that I can neither add nor diminish in this matter. My 
malady takes its own course ; only my Albert can change the 
time of the crisis, and he does it only in case of necessity ; but 

5 



9 g HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

I always see it in him forthwith, without being obliged to ex- 
amine my own nerves and blood-vessels. But I must administer 
you a reproof, my dear doctor." For what cause 1 " You 
have not regarded, this time, my warning to keep at a 
little distance from mo during my cramps ; you might 
easily have been affected by some of the consequences. 
Albert however has prevented it. In such cases, when they 
come on unexpectedly, let the cramps take their course; they 
will not hurt me. You stand in too close connexion with me, 
not to run the risk of taking them yourself. In case of need, 
rather ask your brother and your sister to lay me on the bed. 
But do you remain at a distance. The harm that might come 
to me from contact with others will soon be removed. " Is Al- 
bert here ? " Yes, he was here when the cramps first began. 
Give me, I pray, the magnet again ; it does me good ; lay it on 
my breast. (I did as she wished, and she said with satisfac- 
tion :) This stone I would not take a great deal for ; it smells 
delightfully too. ,, How ? " I cannot compare the smell ; it is 
as though compounded of many others. It is something like 
fine fruits, and at the same time like good, strong wine. But 
now I must accompany Albert." Whither] "That I do not 
know yet ; he only tells me that he will go with me forthwith. 
Ah, it is done already ; I am at the destined place." (Suddenly 
her countenance was pale, and her breathing less perceptible, as 
was always the case when her soul was far from her body.) 
Can you now name the place in which you are ] " No, not yet ; 
I only see that it is not at all light, here." Is it a fixed body, 
where you are? *« Yes, but it-is quite dark there, although 
torches are lighted every where." How] Torches? I am 
astonished. How can that be ] Torches in a place that belongs 
to the supersensual world ] " Not altogether to the super- 
sensual world. No, there are creatures there that are grossly 
corporeal." Is it any remote part of our own earth % " No : 
Albert is now going with me to another part of this body; ah, 
there it is still more gloomy.' , Why is this place so obscure] 
" Because it lies so deep below." I do not understand that. 
You say u below ;" what is below ] " The sun does not shine 
into it ; it is a place whose position is opposite to the sun." 
Is it the moon 3 " Yes, yes, that is it ; 1 know it now ; Albert 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. «y 

confirms it." Do you see any living beings in this planet 1 
tc Yes, just now very many together." Are they corporeal 
beings that you see 1 " They have something corporeal, but 
not like men."* Are they the original inhabitants of the 
moon] " No, they were transferred thither. "f Do you know 
any of them 1 (She looks long and attentively.) " There are 
so many there, I cannot at once see aright. But yes, now I 
see one whom I knew upon earth. He worked long in my 
father's employment in E. He was a wagoner. I recognize 
him perfectly. There are many other forms and countenances 
there that I have seen before ; but I do not exactly remember 
them." Do souls of departed men then dwell in this place ? 
" Yes, they do. But there are also spirits there which have 
been transferred hither from other stars. "J But for what 
purpose do these souls need torches — or material light at all 1 
" I did not say they needed torches. Besides I spoke, a little 
before, of another region of the moon, where I first was. But 
there are also, where I now am, such lights, if the term torches 
offends you. The place is lighted in a peculiar manner, be- 
cause there is no sun-light. I may properly use the word 
"lights." You will have nothing to object to that?" No; 
only tell me, whether beings other than departed souls are 
found where you now are. " Here I see none, but there are 
such where I was first. When I go there again, I will tell you 
more of them ; I cannot at present." What is the nature of 
fhat mode of lighting the moon, you spoke of. " The moon is 
illuminated, like the earth, by the sun ; there are also alterna- 
tions of day and night on it." Exactly as on the earth ? (She 
thinks and then says :) Lay your hand, if you please, on my 



* Hence appears the nature of corporeal men: they are not corporeal 
as to their understanding but as to their love, that is, they are not corporeal 
as to their understanding when they speak in company, but when they 
speak with themselves in spirit. ; and as in spirit they are such, therefore, 
after death, both as to love and understanding, they become what are 
called corporeal spirits. 

t The good spirits who are to be instructed are conveyed thither (to the 
places of instruction) by the Lord, when they have passed through their 
second state in the world of spirits. — H. ty H. 513. 

JThat there are many earths, and men upon them, and spirits and 
angels thence, is very well known in the other life.— H. fy H. 417, 



100 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

forehead, so that I may see more clearly. (When I did so, she 
said :) Yes, the moon is enlightened by the sun alternately, like 
the earth ; only, in the moon, the days and nights are longer. 
One side of the moon is turned to the sun much longer than 
the earth ever is. The other side, consequently, has a night of 
corresponding length. Still it is not so very dark there, as you 
think perhaps. It is the place where I am now." That is 
just what I wished to ask you ; namely, what is the nature of 
the artificial illumination of which you spoke. "I did not 
speak of any artificial illumination." But you spoke of torches 
or lights. "Yes, but I understood by it an illumination that 
does not proceed directly from the sun, or any other heavenly 
body ; an illumination that does not comprehend the hemis- 
phere of the moon, but is only partial." Tell me what you 
can about it. " That is not much ; I see here and there a clear- 
ness, which proceeds perhaps from the atmosphere of the moon. 
I do not know this, and Albert says nothing on the subject." 
Are you then on the dark side of the moon, which is always 
turned away from the earth 1 tJ Yes, there. And here I see 
only such beings, as, when they lived on earth, were very low in 
point of knowledge." What kind of knowledge do you mean? 
" I mean moral and religious. In particular, such come hither, 
as, on earth, did not believe in Christ, the Redeemer of men, 
who either found His doctrines unintelligible, and therefore 
rejected them, or were neglected from their youth up in re- 
ligious instruction, and for that reason never felt much interest 
in such matters.* Ah, only think, here in the moon there are 
souls, who, even after their temporal death, are unwilling to hear 
of it.f (Interrupting herself, with joyful looks :) Ah, Albert, 
I just now observe it, you have then brought the flower with you 
again ! Thank God ! It is here once more." Why does that 



* There are a few who are altogether ignorant of God : that these if 
they have lived a moral life, are instructed after death by the angels, and 
in their mora] life receive a spiritual principle, may be seen inlhe doc- 
trine of the new Jerusalem concerning the Lord. — D. P. 254. 

t From b ling so dominantly natural, they scarcely know that they are 
in ti, • other Life.— S. J) Ft. 2d, :tf07. 

At length they acknowledged, when they were with me, that they 
were ipirita, hut still tiny could not bo prevailed upon to believe that 
they were out of the body.— A. C. 941. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 101 

flower interest you so much ? " I now learn, for the first time, from 
Albert, that when this flower shall have withered, my malady 
is at an end. The lowest and largest leaf is already withered. 
I see plainly from that flower and from Albert, that my health 
will soon begin to improve. It is indeed high, but it will wither 
away entirely. This will take a considerable time yet, it is 
true. My magnetic sleeps will cease by degrees ; then cramps 
and qualms will come on, three or four times at first in the day ; 
but these also will grow fewer and weaker, and the disease at 
last will cease altogether." How will it be then with your 
period 1 " If I do not commit any imprudence, every thing will 
then be regular, and I shall have nothing more in particular to 
suffer. (A pause.) Only my lungs. Ah, there, things are not 
altogether right. As yet I can say nothing certain on this 
subject ; my breast at the best is weak ; the lungs are spotted 
here and there, and that is not a good sign. For a long time 
after my recovery I shall frequently have oppression of the 
chest and shooting pains. When the termination of my present 
disease will take place I cannot yet tell. At all events, I must 
remain with you for some time after the last attack, as, other- 
wise, the cramps might easily return. I will indicate the time 
more precisely. (A pause.) But now remove the magnet ; its 
operation begins to be too strong. (I removed it slowly, keep- 
ing it still however in my hand, which I approached, without 
her being aware of it, to the head of her bed, and there press- 
ed the magnet. Immediately she cried out :) Ah, that 
draws ! It hurts me above there ; take away the stone. 
I see you now through my head. (To bring the vision back 
to the pit of the stomach, I moved my hand with the stone slowly 
over the head and breast down towards the stomach. When I 
came where her hands were crossed over her breast, the left 
hand, which lay uppermost, moved quickly toward the stone ; 
I raised the stone, and the hand followed in every direction in 
which I carried the magnet. As a needle attaches itself to the 
magnet, so was it with her fingers. If I removed the stone from 
one of her fingers the next immediately adhered to it. This I 
did with my arm raised up, by which I became gradually fa- 
tigued. Thoughtlessly, I let my arm sink to lay the magnet on 
her stomach, in doing which I forgot that I must necessarily 



102 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 



take a direction downward from her arm. The consequence 
\va3 that she complained vehemently, and exclaimed : For 
heaven's sake, not back, not back, it causes me great pain. (I 
was obliged to hold her hand for some minutes, on which the 
pains in the arm gradually disappeared.) Now let the stone only 
lie a little while on the stomach ; it will restore all. (In fifteen 
minutes she bid me take it away again, which I did, this time, 
more cautiously. I will add here, that as often as I touched 
her right eye, or her forehead when she was seeing through it, 
with the magnet, she always said that she saw me much larger. 
Once she even said:) You look like a giant. (A pause.) 
You are feeling to-day some inconvenience in the stomach, and 
I suffer with you." You are right. Whence does it proceed ] 
The reason is, that yesterday and to-day you slept some minutes 
after every meal. You must avoid this habit. It is not at all 
good for you. Rather leave off your habit of sitting and read- 
ing after meals, when you are very apt to be overcome with 
sleep. Divert yourself with conversation, or entertain yourself 
with music, or take gentle exercise. Your digestion would suf- 
fer from a frequent repetition of this error. (A pause.) Ah, 
my Albert, whither are you going] He is gone ; he was oblig- 
ed to leave me for a short time ; I am now alone with you ; but 
he will soon be back. (She says nothing whatever now for 
half an hour, lying still. Then joyfully :) Ah, there he is again, 
my dear Albert; I bid you welcome. You have performed an 
errand in the service of a superior angel ]* O happy Albert, 
how weak and imperfect are we in comparison with you !" Are 
you still in the moon ! « Yes, but I can tell you nothing more 
about this body, to-day. You have a mind, I see, to hear more." 
You are right, I should like it ; if, however, it exhausts you, do 
not attempt it. '•Albert says, it would be better for me to do so 
at his next visit. (Shortly afterwards I made the surprising dis- 
covery, that when I looked into her half-opened eyes, the'right 
one moved this way and that, and the head nodded forwards.* I 
repeated the experiment several times and always observed, 



tC vrn!t i!'f y VVOr f ^ in these th ings> there came a messenger from 
aS&^522feM^ Sfc«ft ** they^red 



HiAm M W i ^"'««wcat ureuu Willi mm. j 

uitmbcivc8,and accompanied their angel.— T. C. K 742 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 103 

that when I no longer looked fixedly at her, the effect ceased. 
I wished to see, now, how far this would extend, if I continued 
my gaze some time. The result was as follows : The right eye 
was fixed on mine, while the left had a quite different direction, 
so that she squinted ; the head moved forward by jerks towards 
my right eye, rose higher and higher, and when I drew back 
with my head, the whole upper part of her body rose up, but al- 
ways with a manifest direction of her right eye towards mine. 
At length when she had come within a few inches of me, 
the jerking movement forward became quicker, and her head 
then struck my forehead pretty hard, the right eye seeking mine. 
When this contact took place, her whole body trembled a few 
moments ; thereupon she said ; " My eye is satisfied/' and 
of her own accord laid herself quietly down again on her back. 
This phenomenon occurred several times afterwards. Almost the 
same effect was produced by a reflection of the sun's rays from 
the above-mentioned brilliant, which she sometimes asked for 
that she might lay it at the pit of her stomach. A broken ray 
from one of the stones of this ring, once by accident, struck her 
right eye, when it began suddenly to move, the head com- 
menced a jerking movement forward towards the ring, and 
never stopped until she had pressed her right eye some moments 
strongly upon it, with the like trembling of the body. If I took 
the ring away after the head had begun to move towards it, her 
right eye became spasmodically fixed, and she complained of 
shooting pains in it, which could be removed only by breath- 
ing and laying my hand on it for some length of time. The same 
was also the case, when she had already brought her eye close 
to mine and I suddenly removed my head.) " My Albert asks 
something of you, which you will doubtless do with pleasure/ ' 
Tell me what I can do for your guardian spirit ? " By your 
morning walks, he says, in consequence of which you breakfast 
at a different hour from the members of your family, it has 
happened occasionally that the morning prayers of the house- 
hold have been neglected. He begs you so to order things, that 
this may not be the case hereafter." Say to your Albert that 
I thank him heartily for this suggestion, and will take care that 
all hindrances shall for the future be put aside. " This rejoices 
my Albert. He is especially glad, that you have received his 
request so lovingly. He says, this encourages him to suggest 



104 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

another matter to your consideration." Tell him that I will be 
gratified by any suggestion from him. " Albert says, you have 
more to do to-morrow than is right." To-morrow, I shall 
preach ; I do not understand it. « You will do more than that 
Albert says. You will also have a church-meeting on the holy 
day This, he says, should not be." (Of this she could, as I 
think, have known nothing, as I had spoken with no one in 
the house on the subject.) Who told you that 1 « My Albert 
knows it and does not like it." If he knows that, he knows 
also that I did not wish it so. Circumstances are such that I 
could manage no other way. « Albert is aware of that, he only 
wishes you should seek to cut off this necessity hereafter." I 
will do so. «I will now rest some time, Albert wishes it. (For 
about twenty minutes she lay quiet and spoke not a word. She 
hen said : Ah, the little fellow is crying in the parlor ; he is 
refractory to his aunt (Immediately thereupon the boy came 
m at the door, still weeping, and R. called to him :) Come to 
me, dear boy ; you did not wish to obey ; you should have done 
so, cry no longer, and be a good and obedient child." (The 
hoy had refused, as appeared afterwards, to let any one but 
his mother undress and put him to bed.) Will the crisis o 
to-day last much longer? « It is just now terminating. Next 
Tuesday, my Albert will visit me again ; he leaves mf now £ 
a few moments." t was so. The usual cramps, which, how- 

rAinine^ckr ^ ^ « e ° m0tb ^" 

May 27th, 6 to 9, P. M. 

ute?w ramPS ''" th \ breaSt "^ the C ° U S h C0me on * few min- 
utes before s,x, without being preceded by nausea; they are 
very sbght however, and last only five minute, On the oth r 
. , he b 0d s agita ed> • p ^ ^ 

■tote, with greater seventy. It shakes all over as in some vio 

li i:z sJT ti,ei \r cnes a11 her iimbs ^3£5 d 

crks and strikes with her arms so violently, that I was a DD re 
.o.,,ve she might injure herself against the bed frame Th s 
'-ever, is not the case. Suddenly she grows cal'the^s 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 105 

are half closed, the arras as usual crossed over the breast. la 
a few minutes she says ;) "Albert, where have you been stay- 
ing so long r Was he not here immediately ? ■ He has one 
dangerously sick in French Switzerland, who was treated amiss 
in her magnetic state. This is what detained him ; he has re- 
moved the mischief," How do you find your Albert so soon, 
when you fall into a crisis, in the land of spirits 1 (Smiling.) 
" He finds me ; it is his charge to visit me." Is he alone? "Yes, 
as yet; later, Amandus will come too." Will your Albert stay 
with you here this time ? " No, he will immediately accompany 
me again to the moon. (A pause.) But, Albert, you look very 
seriously on me ! O, I have done wrong ; I promised you to 
control my temperament better, and forgot the resolution yester- 
day, altogether. Ah, I was foolishly sensitive and excited. I 
will certainly not do it again, my guide ; be kind to me once 
more, I earnestly beseech you. (A pause, during which she 
weeps ;) Yes, indeed ; my heart, Albert says, and not my health 
only, will suffer from it, if I do not watch myself more closely. 
O, I thank you, Albert, that you are now kind to me again; he 
is looking at me again with perfect kindness ; I am quite happy 
(A pause.) He is going with me now to the moon." (A slight 
trembling comes over her, and her body visibly stretches itself 
out, the face is deserted by its color, and the breathing becomes 
almost imperceptible.) What carries your Albert into the 
moon? '"It is good, at present, for my health, to accompany 
him thither; but besides this, his business also leads him thither." 
What has he to do there ? " He teaches among the inhabit- 
ants of the moon." Is this what he is doing now? " Yes, at 
this present moment." Can those who learn perceive you? 
" Yes, some of them are looking on me, but do not however know 
me ; Albert is frequently accompanied by persons in my state. 
I am at some distance from the hearers ; Albert says I may not 
come close to them, as it would be very injurious to me." Do 
you hear and understand the instruction ? "I hear, indeed, that 
he is teaching, and know it too, but it is done in a language I do 
not understand." Are they the sounds in which we converse 
here ? " O no ; I only feel it. On other occasions as well, Al- 
bert does not speak as we do ; I gather every thing from him by 
sight ; he does not speak with the mouth, like men, but with 

5* 



lct 3 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

hit whole essence.* His satisfaction and his seriousness, also, are 
not to be seen in his countenance only, but in his whole person. 
This language every departed spirit understands immediately.! 
Should I be magnetized artificially, I could be raised to a degree 
in which I should understand this language perfectly ; but it 
would be my destruction." But as you understand Albert's 
communications to yourself, you ought likewise to understand 
when he speaks with the inhabitants of the moon. " O, that is 
not so. Albert accommodates himself to my weakness, and so 
makes himself intelligible to me. But I cannot follow him when 
he speaks with elevated spirits. There is still a wide difference 
between a departed soul and one in a magnetic state." Does 
this instruction, then, in the moon, belong to the usual employ- 
ments of Albert ] " Yes, but besides him there are several other 
guardian spirits there who are charged with this duty. "J What 
are the chief topics on which he is now speaking ] (She con- 
verses in silence with Albert, and shortly says :) He is speaking 
with them on what was not rightly intelligible to them here in 
God's word ; he instructs them concerning it,} gives them ex- 
hortations, shows them the way to the true understanding of it, 
and points to the glorious goal. O Albert, were I but there ! O, 
make me so good, that, when I have finished my course, I may 
be permitted to worship, in those higher circles, the God who 
has led me hitherto in so faithful, so fatherly a manner, and 
thank Him for his unmerited love. Ah, I am still so imperfect. 



* I am informed by the angels, that the first discourse of all in every earth 
was effected by the face, and this from two origins, the lips and the eyes. 
This kind of discourse, therefore, excelled vocal discourse, as much as the 
sense of seeing excels that of hearing, or as the sight of a fine country ex- 
celi a verbal description of it. Add to this that such discourse was in 
i merit with the discourse of angels, with whom men in those times 
had communication ; and also that when the face speaks, or the mind by 
the face, the angelic discourse is exhibited with man in its ultimate natu- 
ral form, but not so in verbal discourse. — JE. U. 54. 

1 It is in consequence of the correspondence of the speech of thought, and 
the speech of the month, that man when he comes after death among 
Spirits, knows how to speak in an universal language, thus with spirits, 
whatsoever lad been their language in the world — A. C. 6987. 

| Instructions are effected by the angels of various societies. — H. fy II. 
T>13. 

' All instruction is there effected from doctrine derived from the word, 
Hid not from the word without doctrine.— //. ty II. 516. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 107 

We might all accomplish more than we do, but we so very often 
do not will it. Oh, you should see, — I would have you see it, — 
the holy zeal with which my Albert is now teaching, and his 
deep humility. Think it, only, this glorious Albert holds himself 
for one of the meanest servants of God. That is well pleasing in 
His sight ; He is near to all who are of a humble spirit. Let us, 
dear friend, strive to become such." (A pause.) You said, just 
now, that you did not understand the language in which Albert 
conveyed his instructions ; how could you then give me the 
substance of them] " Albert wishes I should hear what he 
says, and therefore makes himself understood by me, in his 
usual manner." But how can Albert teach, and speak with 
you, at the same time 1 (She smiles.) It, is not there as it is 
here, on earth. He sees me, hears me, cares for me, answers 
me, — all, while he is teaching. You have no idea of 
the rapidity with which all this is done. A thought, and he 
is here with me, a thought, and he is in the remotest place. 
He does not need the tedious way, and the lumbering speech 
of men ; he is not impeded by a body. At this moment, how- 
ever, he has ceased to teach." The instruction then is over ] 
" Yes, the assembly is dispersing." Whither are they going? 
u Each one goes to his own calling." In what does that con- 
sist] t: That I cannot now see clearly. It would cost me too 
great an effort. As Albert does not answer such questions, I 
should be obliged to find it out myself. But go on with your 
questions ; I will tell you, when it hurts me to answer ; it 
gratifies you to talk on these subjects, and for that reason I 
speak of them gladly." Is that side of the moon which is 
always turned to the earth inhabited, as well as the other ] 
t: Yes." What kind of :beings are there ? " They are de- 
parted souls of men also." But you said that there were also 
grossly corporeal beings in the moon. " I said so ; and such is 
the fact. The moon is different in this respect from the earth. 
It has three kinds of inhabitants. On that which is for the 
most part the obscure side, are found departed souls that 
have been sadly neglected. This is here, where I am now. 
I have already said something to you about this abode. On the 
side always turned to the earth, are also, for the most part, 



2 OS HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

separate souls ; they are somewhat better ;* but they are still 
far behindhand. In the middle, in a ring about the moon, 
where twilight reigns, are the original inhabitants, of whom I 
said that they were gross and corporeal. They are, in a great 
measure, hemmed in by huge mountains and rocks impossible 
for them to pass : nor do they have any desire to pass them. 
(A pause.) I must now rest. In fourteen minutes you may 
ask me more questions. ,, (When this time had elapsed I 
asked :) Are the original inhabitants organized corporeally 
like men ? " They are much smaller than menf — their ex- 
ternal form is similar to ours. They breathe also, but their 
lungs are different from ours.^J Why so? " Because what 
they inhale is not of the same nature as our air, and because 
the moon has a much smaller atmosphere. They stand also on 
a much lower grade of cultivation, than the inhabitants of the 
earth. They stand still in need of visible heavenly guidance, 
which we no longer require, and for that reason there come to 
them instructors like my Albert."} (A pause.) Do you see, 
where the original inhabitants of the moon reside, works like 
the artificial works of men 1 " Yes ; I see, for example, build- 
ings; they are however entirely of stone ; that kind of stone, 
however, which is very abundant here, is not found on the earth. 
They have metals also, as Albert says ; but they too are differ- 
ent from ours; and they have but a few of them. Their style 



* All who are in places of instruction dwell distinct among them- 
a Ives.— 11. £ 11. 514. 

t Their faces appeared not unhandsome, but longer than the faces of 
oilier spirits ; in regard to stature they appeared like children of seven 
years old, but more robust; thus they were dwarfs, (homunciones.) It 
was told me by the angels that they were from the moon.— E. U. 111. 

I It was perceived that this was ouing to this particular circumstance, 
that the inhabitants of the moon do not speak from the lungs, like the 
inhabitants of oilier earths, but from the abdomen, and thus from a 
e nam quantity of air there collected, by reason that the moon is not 
encompassed with an atmosphere like (similar to) that of other earths.— 

i ov.ry other earth divine truth is manifested by word of mouth by 
spirili and angels, as was said above in speaking of the inhabitants of the 
earth in this solar system; but this manifestation is confined to families ; 
nankmd in most earths li\e distinct according to families; wherefore 
divine truth thus revealed by spirits and angels is not conveyed far beyond 
the hunts oi iamihes, and unless a new revelation constantly succeeds, 
truth l- either perverted or perishes.— £. U. 120. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 109 

of building is quite different from ours ; they are all rounded 
off at the top. There are mountain chains every where in 
the moon, of enormous elevation ; and some which eject fire 
and masses of every description."— Do you see trees and forests 
in the moon? " Where the human inhabitants are, I see such, 
but not many; they are different too from our trees ; but how 
I cannot say. I see that they are smaller and thinner." Is 
there water^also in the moon'? " There may be water, but I 
do not see it." Ask Albert. " He says yes, but I do not see 
any. (A pause.) Only think, here, in this gloomy abode where 
I am, there are ^creatures so deplorable as to doubt of the 
immortality of their souls,* and the existence of a God.f 
These are forced back into the huge mountains, and so re- 
strained to these places, that they do not dare to leave them. 
Ah, there they mutually torment themselves, by continual 
strifes and contradictions, J in which none are right. § Albert 
says these are the most unhappy beings. They are such as 
gathered nothing on earth for their spirit ; in consequence of 
which they have nothing there. O these are very pitiable ; 
they are so empty, so desolate ;|| they are wretched creatures, 
and a torment to themselves. U (A pause.) It is also much 



* Tie quality of their (the spirits of the Hollanders) faith, even though 
miracles should be wrought, may hence appear. It is such that they 
neither believe in spirit, nor heaven, nor hell. — &. D., Ft. 2d, 3521. 

t Those who flow out of the natural world into this, and hear that they 
are in another world, gather themselves into companies in many places 
and ask — "Where is Heaven and where is Hell?" as also, "Where 
is God V — and after they have been instructed, they still begin to reason, 
to dispute and to debate whether there is a God. — T. C. R. 332. 

^They (certain spirits.) are called reasoners because they never con- 
clude any thing, but take up whatever they hear, and dispute whether it 
be by continually contradicting. They love nothing more than to attack 
truths and thus to pull them to pieces by discussing them. These are 
they who believe themselves to be learned above all in the world. — 
T. C. R. 332. 

$From these appearances I conjectured that below those meteors stood 
those who were disputing about imaginary things, which they esteemed 
of great moment.— T. C. R. 335. 

II i asked the angels concerning the lot of such . And they said, that 

such, when they are alone, cannot think any thing, and thus speak ; but 
that they stand mute like automatons and, as it were, in a deep sleep, 
but that they are awaked as soon as they hear any thing. — T. C. R. 334. 

1f That some are vastated by fears, some by infestations from their own 
evils which they have done in the world, and from their own falses which 
they have thought in the world, whence come anxieties and pangs of con- 
science?— if. # H. 513. 



HO HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

more difficult for thera, to correct their knowledges there, 
since those means are wanting which we have on earth. 
At times they are permitted to cast a look into the state 
of such as are better and happier.* This is done with the pur- 
pose of at least stirring them up to desire for what is better ; 
but with these beings this is hard to accomplish. One that has 
brought with him so little, or rather almost nothing that is true, 
has no desire to learn : for this reason they are not willing.! 
Freedom remains to them there also.J O God ! Let us always 
endeavor right earnestly to learn more purely the things that 
are better. From you. (turning to me,) my friend, wilFmuch, very 
much, one day be required. O be zealous to reach the prize 
that is held out before you. (A pause.) Ah, the poor creatures ! 
They do not believe in the Redeemer, a thing that is justly 
required of us all. Through Him alone we must and can be 
saved ; for this cause He came into the world, to save sinners. 
A belief in God is not enough ; our knowledge must go higher 
than that of Jews and Heathen ; but the requisitions on us are 
greater also; we have far more means to elevate our knowledge 
and animate our faith. (A pause.) O that all men would lay 
it to heart, that no one would forget it, that we can live here 
but a short time. All our endeavors should be directed towards 
enlarging our knowledges for the higher life, according to the 
precepts of the doctrine of Jesus, and at the same time to im- 
prove our moral state. Then we need not be anxious about the 
help and support of the most High ; for He is great and of 
great power. (She prays :) Great is Thy name, O Lord. The 
wonders of Thy works praise Thee ; unsearchable are Thy 
doings. The happy hosts of the angels adore the depths of Thy 



* Certain spirits, not evil, sunk into rest as into sleep, and thus as to the 
interiors which are of their mind they were translated into heaven ; for 
spirits, before their interiors are opened, can be translated into heaven, 
and be instructed concerning the happiness of those who are there. — 
J I. i\JI. 411. 

1 Some understood when they were turned to tho?e who were in the 
light of truth, that they were truths, but still they were not willing to 
understand them, wherefore they denied them, when they were in their 
own false*, :v!id thus in themselves. — II. ty H. 464. 

i lence it appeared very evident that the wicked as well as the good 
fin lbe other world) have equally the faculty of liberty.— J). L. W. 2CG. 






HIST0R1 OF THE CASE* 111 

wisdom ! Without limits is Thy love, without bounds Thy 
mercy ; all souls are happy in Thee ! (A pause.) I search 
deeply to know Thee, but only find that I cannot do without 
Thee. (A long pause.) If we only have reached the feeling 
that we stand infinitely below Him, we have already made 
great progress in true knowledge. Only the humble are pleasing 
in God's sight. He is with them. (Turning to me :) A few 
days ago you had a conversation with me in which your brother 
took part ; it was in your chamber, in the evening. We looked 
out on the beauties of nature. That was of benefit to me ; I 
shall never forget it. I am still very far, in the waking state, 
from having clear ideas about higher things. My Albert begs you 
to repeat similar conversations with me. But now I will rest 
a gain. (She lies quietly for a quarter of an hour.) Your hand 
trembles on my stomach ; your arm is somewhat fatigued ; you 
cannot keep your hand on me, in this position ; sit in a more 
convenient posture towards me." (It was as she said ; my arm 
pained me in con sequence of its uneasy position. Suddenly she 
starts.) W T hat has happened to you? (All astonished she 
says :) Just now I saw my own self, my whole form. I was 
sitting in a chaise that was driving past. That is very singular. 
(After a short interval.) Ah ! that is the chaise you have a mind 
to buy; it is painted green." How can you know that] I 
have not yet seen it myself, and it is full fifteen leagues distant. 
"Nevertheless I saw it, and without doubt it is the one ; I am 
not mistaken. I shall ride in it too, I see plainly. To-morrow 
afternoon you will receive more p articular accounts about it. 
(It was really the case. Unexpectedly there came, instead of 
a written communication, which, for the rest, I was not looking 
for under eight days, on the next afternoon at half past one, a 
messenger who brought me information respecting the chaise. 
R. described the chaise which I had never seen, accurately, 
to the smallest particular, and added that it was good and not 
too dear ; that I should not repent of the purchase. Of the 
price she could know absolutely nothing, and yet she named it 
correctly, and even did not forget to say what present was 
intended for the negotiator. All turned out as she had foretold. 
She said further on this subject :) I saw this carriage before ; 
but where? (Thinking.) Where could it have been 1 Ah, a few 



2 1 o HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

days ago I dreamed that I drove up in it to the door of the 
post-house in Tuttlingen. That was an ordinary dream, of no 
account ;* but the conveyance was the same that I saw just 
now, and which you will buy." Will you see more widely and 
clearly hereafter, than you do now 1 " Somewhat more clearly, 
without doubt, but not much more. I am capable of the highest 
degree of clairvoyance ; but the thing must be allowed to take its 
own course. It would be disastrous should you carry me higher." 
That I will never do. "I know it, but I will tell you what 
would be the first consequence should you do it. I should lose 
my period altogether, from which, deplorable states and unin- 
terrupted ill health would ensue. I should never be well again, 
and must soon die. " I thought that the period would be in- 
duced by artificial magnetism, and rather be increased 1 " That 
would indeed be the case at first, but soon every thing would 
take another turn, and be as I have said. (Surprised :) Ah, I see 
my blood at this moment running in the larger and more minute 
vessels. It is a glorious sight ! (A somewhat long pause.) What 
a streaming up and down !" Do you see your heart too 1 " Yes, 
that is the centre of all the motions. Oh, you ought to see it 1 
(A pause.) Without R.'s being able to perceive it, I had taken 
in my mouth a peppermint cake : immediately she made a wry 
face, made the various motions of tasting with the mouth, and 
then said :) What have you, I pray, in your mouth ! B-r-r-r ! 
how it burns ! Ah, mint, peppermint ; confess it ! I feel pep- 
permint on my tongue. (Smiling.) You meant to cheat me; 
but do you not find that you cannot impose on me ? (A pause.) 
But listen, friend, I must tell you something." I will 
hear it. "I could— I ought— no, it cannot, must not be." 
What do you wish to say 1 " I had a mind to tell you something ; 
but — no, I dare not. But yet — (A long pause, during which she 
becomes more and more restless. At length her features 
brighten again, and she says :) - My Albert tells me to ask 
you, not to preach on the coming Sunday." Why so? My 
throat is indeed somewhat weakened; but I hope it will be well 



The third sort (of dreams) come by spirits, who are near when man 
i uleep. which aro also significative. But fantastic dreams have an- 
other origin.— A, C, 1976. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 113 

by Sunday. " Not on account of your throat, Albert says." Then 
ask him if he will be so good as to communicate his reasons ] 
"It is not good for you; I cannot say more." Without good 
grounds I cannot, as you see yourself, dispense with this duty 
of my calling. <c Albert says nothing more— he only advises 
you, and you can act as you will." We will leave the matter. 
Can you not give my brother some advice respecting his throat 1 
It pains him ; what must he do 7 " Ah, that is no wonder : why 
do they heat the pillows on the bed-pan ? Water is not good in 
his case. They should be heated in a dry place ; then the pain, 
which only proceeds from the peculiar influence of the water, 
will depart. This I did not see in my waking state. I helped 
to fill the pillows myself yesterday, and to see them laid on the 
bed-pan : now I see it better. (The result justified the predic- 
tion of the somnambulist.) It goes well with the perspiration 
about your feet ; it will never appear stronger than it does now ; 
and that is good. You did right also to put new pitch-plasters 
on the soles of your feet to-day. (I did it in my chamber with- 
out witnesses ; no one knew a word of it.) Now I must rest 
some time before I wake. Amandus came just now ; he conversed 
but a short time with Albert, and immediately went away again." 
(After a quiet interval of about a quarter of an hour she again 
starts violently ;) What has happened to you 1 " A large frag- 
ment of rock has just fallen from a cliff in Lauterthal, in the 
neighborhood of the mill of Unterherrlingen ; that was what 
startled me." Why did you notice that, when you do not hear a 
noise in the chamber ? "I hear such noises too, when you attend 
to them. But why I saw the falling of this rock, I do not know. 
Albert chose that I should perceive it." What object can there 
be in it ? " I cannot tell that either ; there certainly is one, other- 
wise Albert would not have willed it ; but he says nothing on 
the subject. (A pause.) But now I am to awake. The day 
after to-morrow at six in the evening I will see you again, my 
Albert. Farewell!" (She trembles as usual, and wakes up 
cheerful, as the clock strikes ten.) 

May 29th 

Instead of the crisis announced for this evening at six, one 
altogether unexpected came on early in the morning. 



114 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

So early as half-past seven, after a morning walk which she 
had taken, and after which she had just finished her breakfast, 
R. came near falling from her chair to the floor, without having 
given any previous tokens, as was usually the case, of indispo- 
sition. She was carried to the bed in an unconscious state, 
where she lay a full half hour without signs of life, without hear- 
ing me, or sensibly feeling my influence. At length tokens of 
life made their appearance ; the eyes moved half-closed, the arms 
trembled at times, and there were manifest endeavors to open the 
rigidly-closed mouth. This struggle lasted another half hour. 
Frequent breathing on the mouth brought the jaw to quiver. I 
now blew into her mouth, and laid my forefinger on her tongue, 
whereupon she tried to stammer out some broken words. By 
degrees her speech returned. She now began of her own ac- 
cord : — " To-day I am in an extraordinary magnetic state. I 
told you, in my last sleep, that Albert requested you through me, 
not to preach next Sunday. You replied, that you must have 
good reasons given you for this, proving that it would be right ; 
that you could not postpone the duties of your office on my bare 
word. Have you not now, (seriously,) good grounds?' 3 I will 
not preach, certainly, but you cannot know the reason, inasmuch 
as no one besides myself knows it. " I knew the reason already 
when I was bidden to ask you not to preach on Sunday. I 
wished to tell you what was before you. You remember, my 
Albert did not allow it, and I did not dare to do so. Yesterday, 
early in the morning, you coughed up some blood in your walk ; 
it made you very uneasy, and caused you to pass the last night 
without sleep. You must now be more quiet, unless you would 
have your health suffer anew. For this end, Albert has called 
me unexpectedly into this state, to tell you this and to calm you." 
(It was, indeed, exactly as R. said. I had coughed up blood du- 
ring a walk, and had said nothing about it to any one. This 
incident naturally disquieted me very much. She now raised up 
her right arm, reached out the first three fingers of her right 
hand, and laid the left flat on my breast ; whereupon spasms 
immediately followed, which evidently moved from the right hand 
through the arm and the breast into the left hand, and thrust the 
whole body towards the left. Thus, for about five minutes. It 
exactly the process she had formerly resorted to, in order to re- 
me on purpose, because it would have made me uneasy. It 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 115 

move an inconvenience of the stomach under which I was suffering. 
(Compare 19th May, P. M. The five minutes passed, she said ;) 
You will already feel an unusual heat in the breast, and feel re- 
lieved this very hour. (It was exactly so.) Be not concerned about 
this accident. Spare your breast somewhat more than usual. 
Keep it especially warm ; it will then pass away without bad 
consequences." Will I be able to preach again next Sunday 
week ? " That I do not yet know ; ask hereafter. (She now 
attempted to remove her hand from my breast, but declared that 
it was not possible for her to do it, her hand being, as it were, 
glued fast. <: It is with my left hand, she said, at present, as with 
a glass, the smooth bottom of which rests on a wet, smooth sur- 
face. It can be removed only by force." The reason, no doubt, 
in the case of the hand, is different from that in the case of the 
glass ? " Of course ; here your attraction is the reason ; you 
are a magnet to my hand, and your breast now attracts my Al- 
bert's force stronger than any other part of your body. [Compare 
the crisis of June 21st.] (At length she detached her hand, but 
said :) My five fingers have become entirely without feeling ; 
breathe on them, (I could not, however, get possession of them, 
because she frequently dashed them this way and that. [Com- 
pare May 19th, P. M.] When she had done this about twenty 
times, she said :) " So, now breathe on them ! (I did so, and feel- 
ing was soon restored to her fingers.) You are more calm now ; 
I feel it." Whence came the spitting of blood ? " You exerted 
yourself too much on Sunday. The church meeting lasted three 
hours. That was too much. For this reason such meetings are 
not good on these days. The change of weather and the cold 
morning mists in which you walked also had an effect. Be 
easy now about your breast; I have just now looked into it 
again ; it is not such a bad affair after all." Why did you, a 
little since, move your fingers about so rapidly ? " Because they 
pained me, and the motion relieved them." How can that be ? 
"I received a portion of your vital fluid, which, in consequence of 
the affection of your breast, is not altogether healthy, into my 
hand ; by those movements I got rid of what gave me the pain." 
Why, in your last sleep, did you foretell six o'clock this evening, 
incorrectly, as the time when you would fall into another crisis, 
when you foresaw my spitting of blood long before, as you say, 
and as I believe ? " Albert concealed this unexpected sleep from 



11(5 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

would have excited surprise in you also, if I had told you the day 
before yesterday that I should have an attack so early to-day. 
But a crisis would not have been good for me yesterday evening, 
and, at the same time, he did not wish to leave you till this even- 
ing in an uneasy state of mind. (A pause.) Praised be God, 
that the accident will have no further consequences. I have felt 
apprehensive for a long while, because I knew of it so long ago. 
I hinted at it several times before this ; but you could not under- 
stand me, as I was not permitted to say more. " (She now rests 
for some time.) Is your Albert there ? " Yes, he will not come 
in the evening. This crisis takes the place of the one announced." 
Express to him, I pray you, my hearty thanks for his interest, and 
the perceptible relief which he has just afforded me. "He is look- 
ing at you in a friendly manner." Will you leave the earth to-day 
again ? " Albert will stay some time here, and then I shall ac- 
company him to the moon." (At this moment her right eye, into 
which I looked fixedly, began to move strongly from side to side ; 
her head rose up, and advanced towards my right eye.) What is 
the nature of the attraction exerted by my right eye ? " I cannot 
explain it. I only feel^ as if there were something fastened in 
the middle of my eye by which they were drawing me to 
your eye. The same effect is produced by the diamond, but in 
a lower degree. (A pause.) Albert now departs with me. (The 
usual phenomena occur with her body.) I am in the moon." Is 
Albert teaching again ? " Yes, but this time he is on that side 
where the less degenerate souls are found. There are not very 
many to hear him to-day." Do you know any of these souls ? 
" No, not one ; I see them each separately. These will soon be 
permitted to change their present abode for a better one." 
Whither will they be translated ? u Albert says, that depends 
on higher ordinations, and he does not know; that they will pass, 
however, to another of the heavenly bodies, as is always the case 
when souls are ready for their translation to a more perfect state. 
(A pause.) O, how wisely and how lovingly has God arranged 
it all ! (She prays.) Make me good, O Heavenly Father, and 
ever better, that I too, like Thy better spirits, may draw nearer to 
Thee, by one degree after another, and not lag behind. Lead me 
by Thy good Spirit in Thine own ways, that I may never lose 
•igfat of Thee, my highest and last aim. (An interval of silence 
in" length. My sister M. approaches her bed.) I can now 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 117 

bear the presence of M. pretty well ; I see her also ; she is stand- 
ing near me. She is right good, but something is still wrong 
about her stomach. (A pause.) The time will yet come, dear 
M., when you will be in a sphere that agrees with you better 
than your present one ; where you will be less harassed by the 
calls of external circumstances. Your heart and your spirit v/ill 
then have more nourishment, and you will then enjoy better 
health. Confide only, it will turn out so. (A pause.) But now 
I shall soon wake up ; the day after to-morrow we shall see one 
another again, at six in the evening. (She trembles.) Alas ! 
my Albert is going. The return to the life of earth this time will 
be accompanied with a hard struggle." (It was so. She 
coughed for more than a quarter of an hour ; then came on op- 
pressions of the chest and convulsions, which terminated in uni- 
versal agitations of the body. After a full half hour of bitter 
struggles she awoke about ten o'clock,' much exhausted, and 
astonished to find herself on a strange bed.) 

May 30/ft. 

To-day, according to the announcement of yesterday, there 
was to be no magnetic crisis. It was so. Still R. as she was 
sitting, about eight in the evening, on the sofa at work, suddenly 
laid her head on one of its pillows and slept, while her head ap- 
peared much heated, a natural sleep. Her breath was quite 
short. She soon woke up, and my brother C. and myself talked 
to her ; but she never fully understood the meaning of our words. 
" I do not understand you, she said several times ; I do not know 
what they want." All at once she fell asleep during a speech 
which she had not yet finished, woke suddenly up again, looked 
about her quickly, begged me to stay near her, and again fell 
asleep. In a few minutes she woke again, and looked about 
fixedly, seeming to be in full possession of her consciousness. 
These alternations lasted for more than an hour, whereupon her 
breathing became easier, and after fully waking up, she recover- 
ed her consciousness perfectly. The magnetic relation in which 
I stood to her exhibited itself in this singular half-sleep, chiefly 
in the circumstance, that, while she slept, she became suddenly 
aware of it whenever I left her bed in perfect silence, and be- 



H3 HISTORY OF THE CASE, 

came quiet only when some part of my body touched hers. 
Contact with her clothing, or with the ends of her fingers, was 
sufficient. It was further a circumstance particularly striking 
io this state, that she moved the muscles of her face with singu- 
lar rapidity in all directions, and at first, made, now the most 
laughable, now horribly distorted grimaces, but afterwards 
imaged forth the most various emotions so perfectly, in her looks 
and gestures, that each was recognisable at the first glance. 
On awaking, she complained of violent headache, which passed 
off, however, in a short time. 

May 31 st, 6 to 8, P. M. 

After the usual cramps, which, however, were considerably 
shorter and less violent, and especially expressed themselves less 
in convulsive movements of the arms and legs than had hitherto 
been the case, there came on a short sleep, more like a natural 
one, in which she neither saw nor heard me. After this, her face 
brightened, and magnetic consciousness returned. (She imme- 
diately said :) tc Ah ! Albert, you are here ? You are ever look- 
ing after me. I cannot sufficiently thank you for what you do 
for me. (She speaks with Albert for some time in silence.) You 
too are near me, M. I am heartily glad of it." Can you see M. ? 
"She stands quite near you, and her clothes touch you. You 
are looking at her yourself ; how should I not see her ?" Would 
you then not see her, without my intermediation ? " No : but if 
you earnestly willed it, I should be obliged to see her, even though 
she were not in the chamber." May M. speak with you ? 
41 Yes, if she wishes, but through you. Attend closely to what 
she says, and I shall hear it better. (Just as M. was going to 
speak, she was called away. A silence somewhat prolonged.) 
There comes my Amandus too. O, is it my privilege to see 
you again ? Where have you been meanwhile ? Ah ! so ? You 
have been treating one of Albert's patients?" Ask Amandus 
why Albert docs not treat his patients himself. " Amandus says, 
that Albert has heretofore, from time to time, committed suffering 
persons to his care, that he might relieve them and direct the 
cure of the disease, but that in more important cases Albert is 
always present himself." Are they only magnetic patients whom 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 119 

he attends ? " Amandus ? Yes." Is not that the case with Al- 
bert too ? Does he relieve other sick persons also ? "I will ask 
my Albert. (A pause) ; he says there are many kinds of diseases 
and sufferings, in which there is need of help from on high, in the 
life of men; that it is his calling to render assistance, and to calm, 
not only in the sufferings of the body, but in those of the soul 
also.* He has already helped many somnambulists, but he must 
be near the afflicted in mind also. He says that there is no suf- 
fering which can befal the man, what name soever it may have, 
in which there is not a supernatural helper assigned to him by the 
Most High ; that every man has a guardian or protecting spirit ;f 
but that frequently several men are committed to the care of one 
higher spirit." But of what kind is the influence of these higher 
beings upon waking men, not in the magnetic state ? " Often 
bodily, often spiritual, according to the exigence of the case." I 
cannot see how higher beings operate on men who have no such 
susceptibility as those in the magnetic state for receiving that 
finer vital substance, whose influx into you is now proving so 
healthful. Albert says that this, with those quite sound in 
body, is unnecessary. The deeper troubles of the soul, however, 
always make the body to stand more or less in need of help, and 
in consequence susceptible of a higher influx of life ;f but that 
it is often sufficient, in silence and unconsciously to the sufferer, 
to operate on his soul." But is it possible to affect a human 
soul, save by means of some substance, although an extremely 
fine one, while it is yet in the body ? 6i Yes, he says that this is 
always the case with the higher spirits appointed by God to take 
care of men. Often they form the voice of their consciences, 
which seems to them as the voice of God in their interior. 5 But 
what the nature of this operation on the soul is, my Albert does 



* The will and understanding of man are ruled by the Lord through 
angels and spirits. And because the will and understanding are so ruled, 
all things of the body are also, since these are from thence. — H. 8f H. 228. 

+ There is with every man an associate spirit. — T. C. R. 330. 

% It has been given to the angels to move my steps, my actions, my 
tongue and speech, as they pleased, and this by influx: into my will and 
thought. — They said afterwards that every man is so ruled. — H. Sr H. 228. 

$ When evil spirits begin to have dominion, then the angels labor to 
avert evils and falses, and hence there exists a combat ; it is this combat 
which is rendered sensible by perception, inward dictate and conscience. — 
A.C.227. 



120 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

not explain to me, because I could not comprehend it. He says, 
this is an ordination of God which is not more incomprehensible 
to you than the fact that you think and will and breathe. But 
now let me rest. This conversation affects me. (She rests for 
half an hour, at the end of which she exclaims with joyful asto- 
nishment;) Ah, ah, how glad ami!" What delights you so 
much ? "I see the flower again with Albert ; O, God ! how do I 
thank Thee !" What throws you into such emotion ? "Two 
leaves are once more withered on it. And for that I have to 
thank you, my benefactor. 55 Why me ? " Because you hold out 
with me in my sufferings, stand at my side, and do not abandon 
me. Oh, if that had not been the case, O God ! 55 What would 
have happened then ? "This disease would not have left me in 
two full years, and even then I should have remained sickly. 55 
But how long will your disease last now ? " That I cannot tell 
exactly, at present, but by no means so long. 55 Will the leaves 
of the flower wither in certain intervals of time ? " Yes, such is 
to be the case ; but this depends still on circumstances, all of 
which I do not yet see clearly. I do not at present know so pre- 
cisely the external influences which may operate upon me until 
my recovery. Still I see that I am not to be sick very much 
longer. 55 How many leaves has the flower ? " I cannot rightly 
see. 55 But can you not count them ? li Ah, dear friend, it is 
quite one thing to count with waking eyes, and another to do it 
in my state. It is much more difficult ; yet I will try. (She 
makes an evident effort, and counts very slowly.) One — two — 
three — four, no, I shall never get through ; I can never finish it 
without mischief to myself; the exertion is too great. O, my 
Albert, do you tell me the number ; you can very well do it. 
(She looks towards the place where her eye is always directed 
when she speaks with Albert.) Now I know; there are yet 
thirty leaves. 55 There were then altogether thirty-three ? " Yes. 55 
How did you learn the number? " I saw them in Albert. 55 
Where is Amandus at present? (She points in the direction 
opposite to Alberts position.) " I am between the two. 55 You 
are looking towards Amaiidus ; are you speaking with him? 
" lie is speaking with me. He is giving me good lessons. He 
tells me that I should become better and better, and often remem- 
ber what, on many occasions, he inculcated upon me, while I 






HISTORY OF THE CASE. 121 



was yet a child. (A pause of some length.) Whither 
are you going with me, my Albert? I am leaving the 
earth ; ha, what a rapid flight ! I am already at the spot." 
Where are you ? (She gives no immediate answer, be- 
coming rigid, and lying for some time like a pale, dead statue. 
After several minutes she moves her mouth, and answers 
to the question when repeated : Where are you ? " In Venus." 
Why not again in the Moon? "Albert has business just at 
this time, in Venus, and the stay in this planet will now, he says, 
be of great service to me." Will you be able to tell me some- 
thing about this part of the creation also, that is of interest to 
me ? " Ask, by all means ; what I can observe myself, or Albert 
can inform me of, I will again tell you faithfully." Tell me, in 
the first place, what business Albert has in Venus ? " He is 
teaching." He stands higher in knowledge, then, than its inha. 
bitants ? " Yes ; yet there are souls there already very enlight. 
ened." Are there also departed men in this heavenly body ? 
" Yes, precisely such." But also such as are originally and 
properly inhabitants of Venus ? "I see none, but Albert says> 
there are such there, and that they have a considerable resem- 
blance to us men !"* Why^do you see none ? " Albert says, I 
may and must not ; that no somnambulist has ever been per- 
mitted to see the original inhabitants of Venus." Why not ? 
" That he does not tell me." What inhabitants of Venus is Al- 
bert teaching ? " Those who were once inhabitants of Earth, 
and now, in Venus, have got an extremely fine body, like the 
clothing of my Albert, which seems to consist of light and gold- 
shine."! Do you see these beings ? " Certainly ; yet I may 
not approach them so nearly as those in the Moon?" Why not ? 
11 They are all purer than I am, and Albert so wills it." Yet I 
should think, that when their teacher is so closely united with 
you, the scholars could have no objection to your approaching. 
"I do not know that ; but Albert's command is enoughfor me." 



* In the planet Venus there are two kinds ofmen.—E.U. 106. 

t Spirits and angels are clothed in agreement with their intelligence, and 
according to the reception of truth in their life, for tins is intelligence. 
Indeed the light of their intelligence is formed into garments, and when 
this light is so formed, they not only appear as garments, but actually are 
garments. — A. E. 3iJ5. 

6 



122 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

On what degree of perfection do these inhabitants of Venus 
stand, as compared with Albert and the inhabitants of the earth? 
i; Into Venus are translated all good souls, who, on earth, with 
the best desires, were always in a condition where they did not 
feel themselves happy ; souls, who, without their own fault, 
have missed the aim of their life, but remained uncorrupted ; 
the persecuted, the abused, the falsely estimated, good men, are 
very numerous there ; the ignorant in religion, also, who were so 
without their own fault, and yet remained good.* Such souls 
have here a happy lot ; they all have their employments, con- 
cerning which Albert tells me nothing. They are happy 
among themselves, and yet this place is only one of preparation 
for a higher happiness that awaits them." You said that Al- 
bert teaches ; is he about it now ? " Yes, but there are fewer 
hearers assembled this time, Albert says, than usual." Why 
sol " Many are celebrating a parting, festival,! in another 
region of Venus, where several souls, who are ready for their 
transition^ to a higher planet enter once more into the circle of 
the friends whom they are about to leave, and rejoice in com- 
mon with them." Whither are they transferred? " Albert 
says, that he knows only of two, certainly, that they pass to the 
sun." Will the highest felicity the human soul can reach be 
experienced in the sun 1 " O, no, no, all that is only the begin- 
ning. Above the sun, there are worlds without end§ and 
felicities without number. The more perfect spirits are found 
in other places of the creation. Yet God very often sends His 
angels too, (and these are much higher than all the inhabitants 
of the suns,) into our solar system to execute His commands. 
Albert says, that I will be permitted to see this, this very hour ; 



* It is provided that all who have lived well, and acknowledged a God, 
are instructed by the angels after death. — D.P. 328. 

t There are here days of festivity appointed by the prince. — T. 
C. R. 745. 

| But this beginning of man's life after death continues only for a few 
days ; but how he is afterwards led from one state into another and at 
Length either into heaven or into hell, will be told in what follows. — 
//. if U. 451. 

$ flow immense the heaven of the Lord is may also be manifest from 
this, that all the planets visible to the eyo in our solar system are earths, 
and moreover that there are innumerable ones in the universe, and all 
full of inhabitant*.— 1L $ II. 417. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 123 

I do not know what he means." On what subject is Albert 
speaking 1 " Of God's loving providences, and His wise and 
fatherly designs in all His ways. I hear him also speak of 
Jesus' doctrine, and of redemption, and of God's grace through 
Him. Oh, you should hear how my Albert teaches ! Now he 
assumes a holy seriousness — a majesty before which I bend 
with humility. When the names of God and Jesus are pro- 
nounced, his whole person becomes glorious. Oh, my Albert 
is deeply in earnest. You too must learn to speak thus before 
your congregation ; then God's blessing and power will be in 
your preaching. (A pause.) O Thou most loving Father ! 
How do I thank Thee, that Thou hast caused Thy truth to be 
proclaimed to me ! What would I be, if I knew nothing of 
Thee, and the doctrine of Jesus ! For me, too, did my Redeemer 
die. How can I thank Thee for this, O Thou most Holy ! 
(A pause.) Yes, obedience to Thy will — let that be my first 
duty, and love — yes love ! Give me ever more and more of 
living faith and love, and of trust in the grace which Thou hast 
bestowed upon me. Thou hast often heretofore poured comfort 
into my suffering heart ; when my faith began to sink, Thy 
love always raised me up again ;* O thanks and praise be to 
Thee forever. (A pause of some length.) Make me, O 
Father, ever more and more ready to submit myself to Thy 
holy leadings ; teach me, in all zealous endeavors, to give 
myself up to Thy wise ordination. Send light into my 
heart, when darkness overshadows it ; teach me to pray 
aright, and ever to cling to Thee. Teach me, for every 
benefit of Thy hand, to render such thanks as are pleasing 
in Thy sight. O Father ! make me good. Make me to account 
little of the things of earth, and never to lose sight of the highest 
aim. Then I shall never fall, and, when strong temptations 
come upon me, Thou wilt protect me. Bless, most Merciful, 
my resolutions ; give me strength and power to execute them. 
Help me to fight against myself: Thou seest I would do so, 
but without Thy aid it is not possible for me to do even the 



* For in them (temptations) man, to appearance, is left to himself alone, 
although he is not left, for God is then most really present in the inmost of 
him and supports him. — T. C. R. 126. 



124 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

least thing." (A long interval of silence, during which she has 
her hands folded. The above prayer she spoke very slowly 
and solemnly, making a shorter or longer pause at almost every 
line.) Can you tell me any thing of the external nature of the 
place where you are now staying 1 u Yes." What do you see 
there ] " Delightful lanscapes, and plains, and gloriously beau- 
tiful gardens.* In the moon it is much more rugged than here." 
Are these gardens laid out artificially 1 u Yes, but not hedged 
in, as below on the earth, and, in general, they are different ; 
they wind into one another, and into the country which I am 
looking over. There are also quite different plants here, such 
as we know nothing about. Still, they stand in a fair order, 
delightful to my eye. The abode in this planet is glorious. (R. 
now rests again for a quarter of an hour. After this she lays 
her left hand on my breast, and says :) Your breast is still 
somewhat affected ; yet it is better, and the attack will pass off." 
(With her hand outstretched, she causes a stream from Albert's 
power to flow through herself into my breast, which I feel 
distinctly in the course of half a minute. During the process, 
her left arm trembles, and, subsequently, a rigidity came on in 
the forearm, the hand, and the five fingers.) Whence this 
phenomenon 1 " Hold my hand now, and it will soon go over. 
That which is diseased in your breast must pass over by degrees 
into mine ; I shall get rid of it more easily than you." You also 
had a spitting of blood one day after me, as you know ; take 
care of yourself, I pray you. " Be easy, quite easy : a part of 
your affection I must have ; it cannot be otherwise ; but it will 
do me no harm whatever. But do you take care how you go 
out to walk, on cold, misty mornings, and how you walk at the 
rapid pace you usually do. (In the meantime my sister M. had 
come in again, with the intention of putting some questions to 
R. As she again stood quite near me, she observed her imme- 
diately, and said :) M. has a mind to ask me some questions ; 
let her do so by all means ; I shall hear what she says through 
you, if you pay strict attention." (M. asked :) Can you name 



* For there are in the spiritual world objects in all respects like those in 
the natural world. Thus there are lands and countries, plains, fields, gar- 
dens and groves. — T. C. R. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 125 

nothing that will relieve the man who is suffering under con- 
traction, whom we visited to-day ? |; Ah ! (joyfully :) if I only 
could ! O, he suffers very much ! Albert, name me, I beseech 
you, some remedy. (A pause.) Alas ! now I see the case just 
as it stands. We can only relieve him ; he can never be cured. 
Dear M., boil him occasionally a little wine ; it will be pleasant to 
him, and will strengthen him ; but always half water and half 
wine ; otherwise itvvould be too strong for him ; leave out spices, 
too, but do not spare sugar, (A pause.) How I thank you, Albert, 
for telling me this. (A pause.) He may also take lemon-juice." 
M. wishes to ask one question more. " I will hear." (M. asks :) 
Whence does it come, that little incidents in my own or another's 
life, if they are of a somewhat serious nature, often affect me so 
much more strongly than they should ? Can no bodily remedy 
be applied for this ] " No, my dear, this depends on the tender- 
ness of your heart, the depth of your feelings, the external and 
often disagreeable circumstances of your position, and doubtless 
also on your bad state of health. Hope for a change in your 
circumstances, and these things will all be better. (M. leaves 
the chamber. When she was gone, R. said :) Oh, M. is very 
good ; she deserves all our love. Still — but now enough of 
questions. Every one of them costs me an effort. I will be 
glad if you will now let me rest. (She appears to converse for a 
long time silently with Albert ; when I left her couch, she always 
begged me to return soon. M. called me shortly out of the 
chamber, and gave something into my hands, with which I re- 
turned, and said :) I have brought something for you ; do you 
see it 7 "I see a rose, and a sheet of paper, on which there 
is something in M.'s handwriting." Can you read it] (I lay 
the sheet on her stomach ; she makes a manifest effort to read 
it ; after some time she says :) " Ah, it is sad, I cannot accom- 
plish it ; were I in a higher state only for a moment ! (A 
pause.) The intention, indeed, I see plainly in Albert and 
yourself ; only the words — but yes — rose — garden — gift ; at the 
top is also the word friendly. Ah, Albert, I should like so much 
to know it." Well, then, I will read it. (I read :) You have 
answered my questions in so friendly a manner, accept, there- 
fore, the gift of this rose, the first from our garden. " Ah, how 
much this delights me ! Kind M. ! I saw the general meaning 



126 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

well ; I had a clear image of the action, in my soul, but the par- 
ticular words I could not read in their connection. Remind me, 
I pray you, of this scene, in the waking state ; I shall know 
something about it." How is it that you will remember this 
particular scene, while, in general, you remember nothing that 
occurs in the sleeping state 1 "I exerted all my power to read 
the paper; it was a matter of great interest to me ; for which 
reason, the impression on my soul was so strong that it will oc- 
cupy my thoughts hereafter." Do you know of no means 
which would make it easy to bring your memory over with you 
into the waking state ] " No, there is none." Think earnestly 
on this point. I wish it greatly. (She reflects a long time, at 
length, in about eight minutes, she says; ) "Yes, there is yet a 
way ; you must charge me earnestly to retain that which I am 
to remember ; right earnestly,— otherwise it will be of no avail." 
(The next morning, at breakfast, I asked her :) Did you not get 
something yesterday as a present ] " I do not remember any 
thing, but last night I received something in a very vivid dream 
from M.* What was it 1 A rose, and a paper on which stood 
the words, &c. (She repeats the above words exactly. But 
when we gave her the rose, with the paper, which were both 
near her in the room, she was exceedingly surprised, and, for 
the moment, could not comprehend the circumstance. After 
a short pause, R. said, all at once raising up her arms, as 
if startled :) Ah, what a glorious splendor I see away 
over my Albert!" Is it a splendor which proceeds from 
him ? " O no ; at a great distance, I see many hundred angels 
approaching ; what heavenly radiance beams from them ;f it is 
what no human eye could bear. (A pause.) Now they begin 
a song ;J Oh, you should hear it; never in my life have I heard 



* Neither did the Apostles, before the Lord's resurrection, see the Lord 
in the glorified human, with the eyes of the body, but with the eyes of the 
spirit, which appears, after awakening, as if it were in sleep. — T. C. R. 
777. 

t Those who are in this affection, or what is the same thing, who are in 
this love, are in heavenly intelligence, and shine in heaven as with the 
splendor of the expanse.— H. A/ H. 347. 

I have seen angelic faces o( the third heaven, which were such, that 
DO painter with all his art could ever give any thing of such light to 
colore, so as to equal a thousandth part of the light and life which ap- 
peared in their faces.— H. <y H. 459. 

t To convince them that this was the case, there came choirs out of hea- 
ven, consisting of angels from our earth, one choir after another, who to- 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 127 

such harmonies.* Albert and Amandus approach to the choir 
of angels, as they move by. But these stand much higher than 
my Albert. He and Amandus take no part in the song ; they 
only stand at a distance, but even that is happiness. I dare not 
now approach even my Albert. O, in Heaven above it must be 
glorious ! (A pause.) The singing ceases ; the angels are 
gone ; Albert and his friend return to me again." Do you know 
the meaning of this appearance of angels ] (A pause.) " Ah, 
those parting souls are festively escorted from Venus to the sun 
by these messengers of the Most High.f Oh, who would not 
exert himself with all the powers of his soul, in order once to 
reach such heavenly honors ! But now I shall soon awake. 
Albert will visit me again next Wednesday. To-morrow I shall 
fall into a half-sleep. To-day the attack is shorter; I shall 
awake as early as eight o'clock. You will still remain with me 
after that, as long as the final cramps last before eight. To 
leave me quickly is not good. But my recovery is advancing 
rapidly ; this you see by the shorter sleep of to-day ; the inter- 
vals, also, between the attacks will, from this time, be longer. I 
must further say to you, that I must now drink the tea which I 
have prescribed. The last stool was attended with loss of 
blood. Remind me of the tea ; and do not forget to press me 
earnestly to use the juice of the house-leek for those spots 
again, as, in the waking state, I am averse to the application. 
Now, my Albert goes away with his friend ; both of them bid 
me and yourself a friendly farewell. Farewell I" (The cough 
begins, but is soon succeeded by the oppressions, which last 
longer ; at length, after about eight minutes, and exactly at eight 
o'clock, the usual quakings and agitations of the body come on, 
whereupon she wakes up in good spirits.) 



gether with one voice, and in harmonious concert, glorified the Lord. — 
E. U. 61. 

* These choirs affected the spirits of Jupiter who were present with such 
delight, that they seemed to themselves to be caught up as it were to hea- 
ven. — Ibid. 

t After spirits have been by instructions prepared for heaven in the 
above mentioned places, they are brought to the way which tends up- 
wards to heaven, and are delivered to the angel-guards there, and are af- 
terwards received by other angels, and are introduced into societies, and 
into manly gratifications there, — H. if H. 519. 



228 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

June 3d. 

The prediction of R., that she would feel more serious in- 
convenience between the principal crises, was verified. As ear- 
ly as ten in the morning, she complained of general indisposi- 
tion, and subsequently, of pains in the breast and stomach. 
About eleven there came on a half magnetic sleep, lasting half 
an hour, which being ended, she remembered to have dreamed, 
that it had been recommended her not to travel on the 4th to 
Ludwigsburg. She had arranged this jaunt with a female friend, 
without knowing that she had announced her next attack for 
the fourth of June. In the half-sleep just mentioned, she now 
observed, that Albert had brought her into the sleep on account 
of this journey. During the middle of the day she was com- 
fortable. About five in the evening there came on a new indis- 
position and a short unconsciousness, from which, however, 
she soon recovered. At length, about half past six, she 
was attacked with violent pains in the breast, of which she 
said, that she had never experienced them with such severi- 
ty. She was, at the least, somewhat soothed by my lay- 
ing my hand on her. Towards eight she fell again into a 
half-magnetic sleep, the reason of which she assigned as being 
the strong damp from ironing, in which she had been staying 
the whole afternoon. For an hour she lay with her tongue para- 
lyzed. She said afterwards, that if I had not been near her in 
this attack, her health would have suffered so serious a prejudice, 
that she would have been put back some fourteen days in her 
recovery. She further observed, from feeling my breast, that I 
felt pains in my right side, which she removed in a short time 
by laying her hand on me, and raising the right arm, as above. 
About half-past nine she awoke with new strength. 

June 4ilh. 

Very violent pains in the breast preceded the crisis announced 
for to-day ; they came on about six in the evening, lasted till 
half past six, and probably took the place of the usual coughing, 
which this time did not occur. At length, after many ex- 
pressions of impatience, which she could not entirely suppress' 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 129 

she was delivered from her pains by violent agitations of the 
body, and quieted, and transported to the land of her Albert. 
Some minutes afterwards she began to speak : " Albert, my 
most faithful guide, you are with me again ; you do not abandon 
the poor sufferer. But what do I see] (with a face of distress.) 
You are so serious ; your look is not so friendly as usual \ (A 
pause, during which she seems to look upon him.) Ah, indeed, 
I have done wrong. O, if I had never said it I Forgive me — I 
will not say it again/' What was the wrong thing you are 
here asking pardon for 1 " You heard the word which I uttered 
in the violence of my pain, and which immediately made, as I 
now see in you, an unpleasant impression on your mind. Oh, I 
should not have done it. It escaped me. (A pause.) O my 
Albert, be kind to me again, forgive me ; it was only an excla- 
mation of pain : certainly I will not do the like again. Ah ! 
(joyfully) he will ; he forgives; he believes me ; he will be kind 
again. (Before the sleep came on, she had once, from the pain 
which she suffered so severely and so long in the breast, uttered 
in impatience the words ; B Heaven ! Cross !" I asked whether 
these words, which had also immediately struck myself, were 
what she meant. She replied in the affirmative. There follow- 
ed now a long pause, after which she said :) M Albert has given 
me very earnest exhortations, growing out of the word which I 
used so inconsiderately. " Where are you with Albert to-day? 
" In Venus again ; as my cramps ended to-day, my Albert con- 
veyed me swiftly thither. But what do I see] How glorious ! 
God, my God! whom shall I first thank V 9 What is the mat- 
ter ] what moves you so much 7 " Ah, the flower is again visi- 
ble to me, and six new leaves on it are withered. O Albert, you 
are full of kindness to me. Be always hereafter, I pray you, my 
guardian spirit; stand at my side when I am restored to health, 
and can no more see you ; and when I am on the point of sinking, 
do thou be near me, and hold me up ; draw my heart thither, where 
purity and virtue and love have their abode. (A pause.) Yes, (joy- 
fully,) I shall recover, entirely recover ; but I must then take care 
of my body. My Albert says, that it does not fall sick by my own 
fault. O, if only I do not lose you, my Albert, if you only lead 
me, I am not afraid; you and your will I will follow, follow 
without reserve ; and I shall ever feel you (this you promise 

6* 



130 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

me) in my soul ;* how do I thank you for this. (A pause.) How 
lovely, fresh and fair, the flower stands there ! The more leaves 
wither on it, the fuller and more juicy becomes the stem and 
the flowers. The power of the withered leaves withdraws into 
them. O, my guide, I owe you much and earnest gratitude ; 
(turning to me) but I must thank you too." For what I pray 1 
"Had you left me in my attacks, what would have become of 
me 1 I thank you heartily for it. (A pause.) Now, my Albert 
is no longer alone. " Who is with him] "I see five other 
guardian spirits with him." Whose guardian spirits'? "Three 
of them are attendants of souls that still belong to our earth ; 
the other two are guides of beings that inhabit the star where 
I am at present." Have the inhabitants of Venus still need of 
guardian spirits ] " Yes, Albert says such is the case ;f but he 
adds, that the more perfect souls become, the more glorious is 
their attendant ; and that the angels who execute this office at 
the behest of the Most High are in the Sun. See, now they 
fall down ; they bend themselves and pray.J O the splendor 
that beams over this whole scene ! O that I might dwell here 
and return no more to the earth." (A pause.) Do you perceive 
the matter of their prayers 1 " Only God sees that, at this 
moment ; but I see a sign in the heavenly radiance that encom- 
passes the suppliants,^ whose meaning I perceive in Albert. 
This sign says : " God is love," and I see distinctly, that they 
direct the impulses of their inner being to this heavenly sign. 
(A pause, she prays.) Yes, Thou, O my God, Thou art love. 
Thy love has loved me also. It often seemed to me dark and 
gloomy, the way Thou wert leading me ; but Thy love was in 
it. Worship and praise be to Thee ! Holy, Holy art Thou, O 
God ! All the heavens are full of Thy glory. O that I could 
now join in the song of those higher, purer spirits, who are 



* Angels when Ihey are with men, dwell as it were in their affections. 
_//. # //. 391. 

t There are others (of the angels) who defend novitiate spirits, which 
are those who have come recently from the world, from infestations by 
evil spirits.—//. $ //. 391. 

\ I saw a company of spirits all on their knees praying to God. — T. C. 
R. 621. 

$ There are also given in the heavens writings without the aid of the 
band from mere correspondence of the thoughts : but these are not perma- 
nent.-//. 8,- //. 262. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 131 

praising Thee ! my prayer is weak, receive it graciously. Thou 
hast promised, that even sinners may approach Thee with 
believing prayers ; hear me then, also, and let my weak suppli- 
cations be pleasing in Thy sight. Make me well, make me 
good, and repay to him, also, who stands so benevolently at my 
side, the good he does me. Bless him for the many sacrifices 
he has already made for me. (A pause.) Now my Albert 
departs with his friends. He will converse with them ; but yet 
he remains so near, that my body, through yours, still continues 
powerfully to feel his influence ; how beautiful it is— it is as though 
a path of light extended from him to us. (A silent interval which 
lasts almost an hour.) Now my Albert has returned. I see in him 
that he has talked over with his friends a weighty commission, 
which has been given to them from above." Can you not see 
of what nature this commission is ? * No, Albert is very 
serious ; I am not permitted to know it. Speak of it no more. 
But, Albert says, you must speak frequently with me, when I 
am awake, of higher things, and remind me when I forget 
myself. One sees faults in others much more quickly than in 
one's self. Do so very often; I desire so much to be growing 
ever better and better. (A pause.) I see into your body ; your 
stomach is suffering to some extent ; you have been vexed ; that 
should not be. (She laid her left hand on my stomach, and the 
uncomfortable sensation I had been experiencing there for some 
hours, was, in some eight or ten minutes, almost gone. On the 
other side, she complained of cramps in the hand, which 
however, soon remitted, on pressing it for half a minute.) I 
must further say to you, that you must not preach yet the 
coming Sunday. Will you obey, this time, readily I You have, 
I think, good reasons. (She smiles.) I shall shortly be trans- 
ported to the earth. Albert will visit me again on Saturday 
evening. (She trembles slightly.) I have just arrived here with 
Albert. To-morrow there will occur a half-sleep. Give me 
to-morrow a foot bath, with salts and senna. Now I shall awake. 
Farewell, my Albert! O, see, there he soars away!" (The 
usual cramps come on, and she awakes.) 

June 5th. 

At five in the afternoon a letter was delivered to her, whose 



132 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

contents so affected her, that she was suddenly attacked with 
cramps in the breast, and shortly afterwards, following a few 
convulsive motions, there came on a half magnetic state, in 
which she continued an hour and a half without speaking a 
single word. The lower jaw was spasmodically closed; she 
indeed recovered some powers of motion from time to time, when 
my hand was laid on her ; but she wanted the ability to speak, 
as even her tongue seemed paralyzed, as I inferred from some 
inarticulate sounds which were evidently attempts at pronun- 
ciation. Only a little before waking did her speech gradually re- 
turn to her ; nevertheless, she spoke at first in a very broken, 
painful and stammering manner. To the question, Is Albert 
there % she answered, "No, he cannot be with me at present ; 
he is engaged elsewhere." When will you wake up 1 " In 
eleven minutes." How can you see this so plainly in your 
present state, when you recognize it at other times, as you say, 
in Albert? " I feel it very distinctly in the ray of vital power, 
which proceeds from you, and is growing thinner and thinner ; 
at the time I have mentioned, this efflux will cease entirely, and 
my vital fluid will then withdraw into the recesses of my body. 
This I can see distinctly, although I am just now on a very low 
magnetic degree." (Her prediction was fulfilled, according to my 
watch, most punctually : she waked up cheerful, and it was ob- 
servable, that she did not remember the contents of the letter she 
had received, during the whole evening, although her attention 
was directed to it. The letter was again given to her first, on 
the following morning, and then there awoke by degrees in her 
soul, the recollection of having received it the day before, with- 
out, however, producing by its contents the same strong effect 
upon her.) 

June 7 ih. 

The magnetic sleep, instead of coming on at six in the even- 
ing, as had hitherto been regularly the case where the crisis was 
pre-announced, came on to-day an hour later, to wit, about seven. 
The cramps in the breast and neck scarcely came on before 
seven, and were violent and long continued. When magnetic 
consciousness was present, I asked : How does it happen that 
tlie crisis has occurred to-day an hour later than usual ? ll The 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 133 

reason is, the interval attacks, which greatly advance my recov- 
ery, especially when you do not leave me while they last. My 
nervous power is already more strengthened, and there is more 
time required now to transport me into this state. Hereafter, 
also, the sleeps will not last so long as before." Will you also 
see less clearly from this time 1 "No, this faculty will be ex- 
alted yet, for a short period, and then gradually diminish. My 
recovery advances rapidly ; those interval attacks serve, as it 
were, to disburden my body ; they are of a different kind from 
the present one, when you operate upon me through Albert ; it 
seems as though, in the half-sleeps, my body, at the same time 
that it assumed vital power, exhaled, as it were, diseased stuff; 
after which, less of it collects, and my vital force works with less 
hindrance towards my restoration." Is Albert with you? 
" Yes; he has also brought his friend Amandus again. I thank 
you, Albert, for the pleasure you have thereby afforded me. But 
Amandus cannot stay here. His business will summon him 
away shortly. (A pause.) Ah ! — the flower ! I see it too 
with Albert ! O, thanks be to God ! How full is my heart 
of joyful gratitude ! (She folds her hands, and prays for a 
long time in silence ; at length she says :) To you, too, my 
Albert, I offer most heartfelt, thanks ; (to me:) You have not 
done less for me. My Albert looks at you and rejoices over 
you." How is it with the flower'? " Again there are six leaves 
withered, and consequently the half of my disease is gone, and a 
great part of my sufferings passed through. The disease is now 
on the wane ; things will go on so after this, unless peculiar 
circumstances, which I cannot foretell, intervene. From this 
time until Friday, I have, indeed, a great deal to suffer ; Al- 
bert will not visit me again before the thirteenth." Why so 
late ? " Albert says, that the interval attacks must now have 
place, that they are better than his influence, only it is almost 
indispensable that you should lay your hand on me while they 
last. These attacks are more striking, to those who do not un- 
derstand the case, than the real magnetic sleep ; but they are 
true medicines to me. Towards the conclusion of the disease 
I shall have still to pass through fearful cramps. But do not be 
alarmed at them ; I shall have them as well in the waking as in the 
magnetic state, especially before the principal attacks. As soon 



134 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

as these occur, my complete recovery is not far off. Between 
to-morrow and Friday, there will happen several light attacks of 
this kind, and two unconscious states. (My sister M. asks : 
What is to be done for the maid, who has been vomiting con- 
stantly for the last two hours, and even throws up the things 
given to strengthen her stomach] R. replies:) She over- 
heated herself, and then chilled her stomach by drinking cold 
water too soon ; let nothing spirituous be given to her ; let her 
only take a cup of warm flesh-broth, and she will be better; let 
her be put to bed ; she will soon fall asleep, and wake up well." 
(They followed her directions, and the result justified her pre- 
diction, to the letter.) Where are you, this time, with your 
Albert] "Here in Schwaikheim ; the departure of my soul to 
any distance from my body would not be of service to me to- 
day." Why so 1 " He says that you are my best medicine, this 
time, and that it is therefore best as it is. You have a mind to 
ask some questions ; do so." On what subject would I like to 
be informed 1 "I see in you, that you wish to hear something 
from me relating to the state of the soul after death." Exactly ; 
but tell me first the meaning of the expression you made use of 
some time since, when you said that the magnetic sleep had 
some resemblance to death ] " 1 said so, and it is the fact ; this 
state is a partial dying." Can you not explain this to me some- 
what more particularly. " I can well believe that this is a point 
of some interest to you ; you have already to-day thought right 
seriously on your own death. I know the place where you 
meditated on this great change ; and I can also name to you the 
time." (This declaration startled me ; for it was really as she 
said, and no one in the world could have had the slightest idea of 
this contemplation of mine.) Be calm, I pray you ; I am obliged 
to have a share in it, when your soul is thus agitated. (She 
trembled some moments.) You need not be surprised that I 
should know this. You thought, just now, — (it was the fact) — 
about the meditations on death, which passed through your 
mind to-day. This I saw; otherwise, it would not have been 
possible for me to know them." Tell me then — for I am think- 
ing the same thoughts at this moment — what did I think to-day, 
and when and where was it ? " We were still sitting at table 
at the noon-day meal ; you had left the room and were looking 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 135 

through the window of your own chamber, which looks towards 
the church. Here you asked yourself, "How would it be with 
you, if you were summoned into eternity this very day ?" And, 
after a little time, you gave answer to yourself: «' I could part 
calmly with every thing on earth." (It was exactly as she said. 
My surprise at this deep inspection of my soul again produced 
emotion in me, the consequence of which was, that she began to 
tremble again, and said quite seriously :) I must beg you ear- 
nestly to be more calm ; you injure me too." (To comply with 
her wishes, I diverted my thoughts by the following conversa- 
tion :) You said that the magnetic state was a partial dying ; 
explain this to me, if you can. (She gives no immediate answer ; 
as I repeated my question, she said, turning her head upward 
with a pleasant smile : " Farewell, dear Amandus ! (To me.) 
He has just been called away; but he will come back. (I 
now repeated my question once more, whereupon she replied :) 
Yes, certainly the magnetic state is similar to death. The way 
in which the soul leaves the body I cannot indeed explain to 
you ; I can only give you an image of it, as I feel it. It seems 
to me now, as if, in the waking state, the body were the house 
of the soul, and it might look out, now at this window, now at 
that. In the somnambulic state, however, the soul has gone 
out, and shut the door of its dwelling. For this reason I now 
see you and myself, as a third person does a group. I am at 
your left, and am looking on you and my own body." Do you 
see your body so, and in the position, that it now presents itself 
to my eyes] " Certainly. " (She describes to me, very cor- 
rectly, the position of her several limbs.) Will this be the case 
also in dying ] " Yes, only with the difference that the return 
of the soul to the body is no longer possible. It has then cut 
off from itself its very last way of access. In dying, the spirit 
leaves its residence exactly as in the magnetic sleep.* But as 



* In what follows to the close of this crisis, there is a difference of 
phraseology between the Seeress and the extracts from S vvedenborg. But 
it is a difference of phraseology only ; the harmony in the substantial 
meaning of both will be readily perceived. The Seeress makes man's 
immortal part to consist of nerve-spirit, soul and spirit. Swedenborg says 
that the human mind is formed in three degrees, natural, spiritual and 
celestial. It is only to compare what the one says of the spirit, with what 
the other gays of the celestial degree, to see their agreement. And so of 



136 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

it cannot be without the soul, (because they are united as body 
and soul,*) for this reason, itcfannot rise without it. This latter 
does not part from the body so easily as the spirit, which is 
divine in its quality ;f only with hard struggles does the soul 
leave the body, with which it has much affinity and which it 
greatly loves. For this reason it also, for the most part, takes 
with it, in dying, its corporeal appendages, which often are not 
the best; because they have grown as it were into its very 
nature." What distinction is there between spirit and soul ? 
" The spirit is the life of the soul, the eternally Divine, begot- 
ten from God ;J the latter belongs to its personal essence and 



the other two. Swedenborg's general account of the mind is here an- 
nexed. — Translator. 

The human mind is distinguished into three regions ; the lowest is 
called natural, the middle spiritual, and the highest celestial. — T. 
C. R. 

The interiors of man which are of his mind (mens) and mind (animus) 
are also in similar order (with the three heavens ;) he has an inmost, a 
middle and an ultimate. — H. fy H. 30. 

It is w r ell to be known that the interiors with the angels are what cause 
them to be in one heaven or another ; for the more the interiors are open 
to the Lord, the more interior is the heaven in which they are. There 
are three degrees of the interiors with every one, as well angel as spirit, 
and also with man. Those with whom the third degree is opened are in 
the inmost heaven ; those with whom the second or only the first is open, 
are in the middle or ultimate heaven. — H. <J- H. 33. 

*But from much experience in the spiritual world it has been made 
known to me that a man from head to foot, or from the first things in the 
head to the last in the body, is such as his love. All in that world are 
forms of their own love, the angels forms of heavenly love and the devils 
of infernal love ; the latter being deformed in face and body, but the 
former beautiful ; and when their love is assaulted their faces change, 
arid if it is much assaulted they disappear totally ; this is peculiar to that 
world and happens because their bodies are as one with their minds. It 
is a tenet of angelic wisdom that the mindot a man is a man, because 
God is man, and that the body is the external of the mind that feels and 
acts; and that they are one and not two. — D. L. W. 369. 

Every man has an internal and an external. — The internal and external 
of which we have treated, is the internal and the external of the spirit of 
man. His body is only an external superadded, within which they ex- 
ist.— T. a it. 401. 

tThe human soul, forasmuch as it is a superior spiritual substance, re- 
ceivea influx immediately from God ; but the human mind, forasmuch as 
il is an inferior spiritual substance, receives inllux from God mediately 
through the spiritual world. — /. 8. 

1 With every angel and with every man there is an inmost or highest 
degree, or an inmost or highest something, into which the Divine of the 
Lord proximately flows, and from which it disposes the rest of the interiors, 
winch succeed according to the degrees of order with them. This in- 
most or highest may be called the entrance of the Lord to an angel and 
to a man, also His veriest dwelling-place with them. — H. fy H. 435. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 137 

completes its whole. In its essence it is a spirit-body, and 
hence can put on altogether the nature of the spirit, and spirit- 
ualize itself ; and, on the other hand, can overcome the spirit, 
and more and more corporealize and debase itself. It is the 
countenance of the spirit, its characteristic form, or clothing, as 
you will.* Neither can subsist without the other ; they are as 
closely united as soul and body — how, I cannot tell. These 
are connections that exceed the power of my eye." But per- 
haps you can tell me how both are united with the body. C4 Yes, 
I can." The soul is the internal sense of the man, by which 
the spirit expresses its essential activity ; the latter gives the 
soul power for its vital expressions. But that these may be 
manifested, there is required still a third, which is superadded, 
and which, at the same time, moves and animates the body.f 
This is an exceedingly fine substance, of which the soul itself 
seems almost entirely to consist, and with which it pervades 
the body in all its parts." Is this the so-called nerve-spirit? 
" You have the right idea ; it is what gives to the body external 
life, mobility and power ; but the name does not please me." 
Do you know any which describes it better? (She reflects.) 
" No, I know no word for it." What becomes of this nerve- 
spirit, in death 1 " It is indeed taken out of the essence of the 
soul, but, by its operations in the body, has more of its nature 
than the soul, in itself considered. J It is always its instrument 
for operating in the external world." But how is it with it after 
death 1 " When the soul parts from the body, this fine sub- 
stance accompanies it : for it is as well a part of the soul as of 
the body. Should it stay in the body, this would live on, not- 



*The body of every angel and spirit is the external form of his love, 
altogether corresponding to the internal form which is mind (mens) and 
mind (animus). — H. <V H. 363. 

t The interior man is the middle between the internal and external 
man ; by means of the interior man, the internal communicates with the 
external, and without such medium, no communication could possibly 
exist— A. C. 1702. 

| The reason is, because an angel and a spirit, in consequence of being 
first born a man in the world, derives subsistence ; for he derives from the 
inmost principles of nature a medium with himself between what is spirit- 
ual and what is natural. That there is such a medium the angels know, 
but whereas it is from the inmost principles of nature, and the expressions 
of all languages are from its ultimates, it can only be described by things 
abstracted.— D. W. 8. 



138 HISTORY OF THE CASE* 

withstanding the soul had left it. This is in some measure the 
case in my present state." What object has the transition of 
this substance with the soul into another world 1 " In death the 
soul is the body of the spirit 3 and is destined, if the spirit is not 
to miss the high end of its creation, to become one with it,* to 
be spiritualized. (A pause.) This presents itself tome as an- 
other dying; the nerve-spirit is destined at last, as what is more 
gross and corporeal, to be entirely removed, and the soul to as- 
sume the nature of the eternal light, of the spirit."f To what 
end does the nerve-spirit serve after death ? " It does not re- 
nounce its nature ; although invisible to the bodily eye, it is 
very gross and corporeal { in comparison with the essence which 
spirit and soul form together. The soul cannot free itself imme- 
diately after death ; each, it may be said, takes something of 
lower desire with it into the other state,§ and this is what at- 
tracts and weighs the nerve-spirit downward to the earth. Souls 
quite earthly, wrap themselves gladly in it, and give thereby the 
characteristic form to their spirit. || By the aid of this substance 
they can make themselves seen, heard, and felt, by men." Yet not 
when they please? " No, it is always by God's will or permis- 
sion. "IT Can they also produce sounds 1 " They cannot utter 



* [t is a tenet of angelic wisdom., that the mind of a man is a man, be- 
cause God is Man ; and that the body is the external of the mind, that 
feels and acts ; and that thus they are one, and not two.— D. fy W. 369. 

t That man after death is his own love, may likewise be manifest from 
this, that those things are then removed, and, as it were, taken away from 
him, which do not make one with his ruling love ; if he be a good spirit, 
all things discordant or disagreeing are removed, and, as it were, taken 
away, and thereby he is let into his own love. — H. 4* ti. 479. 

t The natural mind also derives its form partly from substances of the 
natural world, but the spiritual mind, only from substances of the spiritual 
world.—/). 8f W. 270. 

$ Some [are conveyed into heaven] after a short stay with good spirits, 
where the grosser things of their thoughts and affections, which they con- 
tracted from honors and riches in the world, are removed, and thus they 
aro purified.— H. fy H. 513. 

II For with every one the exteriors and interiors must act in unity, and 
must correspond, it not being allowed to any one in the spiritual world to 
think and will in one way, and to speak and act in another ; every one then 
must be the effigy of his own appetite, or his own love, and, therefore, such 
as he is in the interiors, such he must be in the exteriors. — H. ty H. 498. 

IT All order is from Jehovah, that is, from the Lord, according to which 
all and single things are governed by Him, but with a manifold difference, 
namely, from wi7/, from good pleasure, from leave, and from permission. — 
A. C. 2447. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 139 

them themselves, bat only excite them in the atmosphere of the 
earth." But if they can make themselves felt, they can do men 
harm and mischief. " That they may not do ; such a thing will 
never happen without God's express permission. But ask me no 
more questions at present ; I must rest, Albert says. (A pause 
of three quarters of an hour, after which she begins to speak 
again, of her own accord :) You wish to ask something more ; 
do so, it will not hurt me." Have the departed, then, a kind of 
body after death ? " Yes, what I told you of they take with them 
in dying, and that, certainly, is something corporeal. The spirit 
is wrapped in this purer matter,* and the qualities ©f the bodily 
are governed and regulated by the essential qualities and the 
moral worth of the spirit. If the spirit is enlightened by the di- 
vine,! the body also is light ; if its endeavors are upwards, it 
spiritualizes and exalts that which is low about it, and gives it to 
partake of its heavenly nature ; but in the opposite case, if it is 
the common, the selfish, which the spirit desires, the inferior 
gets the upper hand, and the heavenly light derived from God in 
it is enveloped, in a manner, in mist ;{ it is overcome by the 
meaner portion of its essence, and by its selfishness ; the undi- 
vine, the dark hangs about it, attracts it, and presses it down- 
wards to the earth and sin. This is the way to the kingdom of 
darkness ; the inner light beams no longer purely ; it is dark- 
ened, and the corporeal quality of the spirit draws near to the 
shadowy or to darkness. Even its form is divested of all that 
is divine, and falsehood, and sin and selfishness have attached 



* The natural rnind of man consists both of natural and spiritual sub- 
stances ; from its spiritual substances thought is produced, but not from its 
natural substances. The natural substances of that mind, which, as has 
been said, recede by death, constitute the cutaneous covering of the spi- 
ritual body of spirits and angels. — D L. W. 257. 

f t The light of heaven is divine truth, and divine truth is the Lord in 
heaven. This light does not enter except into the interiors of the mind : 
\ for the interiors of the mind are formed for receiving that light, and as it 
"enters, it also affects and delights — H. fy H. 347. 

X The same light also presents pleasant colors in one object, and un- 
pleasant in another; yea it brightens itself in bright things, and shines; 
and it dims itself in things inclining to black, and darkens itself. It is the 
like in the spiritual world: there also there is heat and light from its sun, 
which is the Lord ; which flow from Him into their subjects and objects ; 
the subjects and objects there are angels and spirits. — D. F. 292, 



140 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

what is undivine, ugly,* delusivef and perpetually fluctuating, 
even to its exterior." Whither are departed spirits transferred 
after death 7 " God has many dwelling-places for them, de- 
pending altogether on their necessities, and the internal charac- 
ter of the soul.^t Are they transferred thither immediately after 
death ! "O no, by no means all,} although no soul leaves the 
body without supernatural aid." Who gives it aid 1 u Higher 
beings, also guardian spirits are put in charge of this business 
too. Even in the magnetic sleep I should never find my Albert 
in immeasurable space, and therefore he can find me. So it is 
in dying ; immediately at its departure there is a guardian near 
to the desolate soul, who points out to it the way it has to go."|| 
In this manner, every soul would still be led, directly after 
death, to its appointed place. " Every soul retains its freedom, 
and hence it happens, that souls, who, with difficulty, tear them- 
selves away from what is earthly, who have found their whole 
happiness in it, and have not learned to know and value any 
higher good, or have become perfect victims of their passions, 
are then, as it were, magnetically attracted by the earthly, and 
following their own internal propension, cannot quit the 
earth. Invisible to common eyes, these unhappy souls, by God's 
permission and their own perverted desires, still dwell on earth, 
until they have come to the knowledge of their wretchedness. 
Alas ! and this is often a long while." Is it the middle state, or 
middle kingdom, called Hades, in which such souls are 1 "Yes, 
but still the souls of which I speak are in it by their own free 
will ; many others endeavor higher, nevertheless, they also must 



* Those who are corporeal loves, appear gross, obscure, black and de- 
formed.— H. ifH. 481. 

t Evil spirits in another life are scarce any thing else but lusts and fan- 
tasies, having acquired to themselves no other life ; their fantasies are 
such that they perceive them as realities. — A. C. I960. 

t All who are in places of instruction dwell distinct among themselves. 
— //. $ H. 514. 

§ Those who are immediately taken up into heaven, are those who have x 
been regenerated and thus prepared for heaven in the world. But those 
who have been interiorly wicked, and exteriorly as to appearance good, are 
immediately cast into hell. But the latter and the former are few in com- 
parison with those who are kept in the world of spirits, and there according 
to divine order are prepared for heaven or for hell.— H. ty H. 491. 

II When the soul thus separates itself, it is received by good spirits, 
who are ready to do it all kind offices whilst it is in fellowship with them. 
—A. C.31G. 



') 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 141 

continue in such a middle state for some time." For what end 
is this] Can you tell me more about this middle state 1 "I see 
you do not fully believe in it. I will tell you, however, what I 
know ; my Albert communicates it to me. But no more for to- 
day ; I shall awake in a short time. (A pause.) See, Aman- 
dus has come for Albert." Tell me yet, why the magnet has 
produced so little effect on you to-day 1 " Your influence great- 
ly preponderated to-day, and swallowed up, as it were, that of the 
magnet. (A pause.) Now I awake. Farewell, my Albert ! 
Farewell, Amandus !" (She begins to tremble and wakes up 
after the usual cramps.) 

June 8th. 

On the eighth of June, at half past ten in the morning, 
without external occasion and without being preceded by any 
mental emotion, which, when at all intense, always produced a 
half-sleep, there came on a half magnetic state, during which 
she lay rigid and pale, with her eyes open and directed askance, 
the pupils much dilated and the lower jaw convulsively closed. 
The breath was scarcely perceptible, the pulse extremely slight. 
An attack of rigidity quite similar came on her in the afternoon 
at three o'clock. On both occasions it lasted an hour and a 
half. It seems worthy of note in these attacks, that they were 
not preceded by the slightest indisposition, so that she lost her 
consciousness suddenly, in the midst of conversation, and in the 
most cheerful mood, and was already quite rigid by the time 
she was carried to the sofa. No convulsion was connected 
with them, none of the usual cramps, no cough. She woke also 
quite suddenly, without any bodily agitation going before. The 
forehead was only contracted for a moment ; at the same time, 
the eyes took their natural direction ; her features returned to 
their usual form, and she was awake. In spite of the cramp- 
like rigidity of her limbs, which to-day lasted three hours, she 
was so far from complaining of pain or bodily exhaustion, that 
she declared she had not for a long time felt so comfortable. 

June 9ih. 
On the ninth of June, at four in the afternoon, there occurred 



142 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

an internal attack, which received greater intensity and dura- 
tion from the following cause. R. spoke, at breakfast, of a letter, 
concerning which she knew that its receipt had for the present 
been kept from her, from motives of kindness. After learning 
by accident that the letter had been received, she had recognized 
the kind intention of this concealment, and yet must needs 
throw my sister M. into embarrassment by asking about it. I 
censured this conduct, and in doing so, used at the breakfast 
table the expression: This is a case in which more delicacy and 
kindness should have been manifested. These words offended 
R., and she replied : It is unjust to charge me with intending 
to act without delicacy and kindness. Upon my replying that 
I had not asserted as much, and had said nothing whatever of 
the motives of her conduct, she maintained her point with some 
irritation, which compelled me to silence and put me somewhat 
out of humor. A jest misunderstood and taken in bad part by 
R., who still continued excited, renewed this dissatisfaction at 
the noon-day meal, on which occasion she allowed herself to 
use, with a peevish expression of countenance, the words : " I 
am made a fool of." About four in the afternoon I was called 
to see her, as violent cramps had made their appearance. I 
found her still conscious, and by laying my hand on her, as she 
begged me to do, the symptoms were visibly relieved. Soon, 
however, there followed a half-sleep aud palsy of the tongue, 
which, in spite of all endeavors to relieve it, lasted two hours 
and a half. After this period the lower jaw at first moved 
tremblingly, then slowly up and down, and she began of 
her own accord, to speak slowly and low. "Your influence 
on me to-day is not very effectual, neither is it as bene- 
ficial as usual. " Whence does this proceed ? " I do not 
know : I do not see very clearly, even you, I do not see, 
quite distinctly. (A pause.) Ah, your mood is by no means 
pleasant either. What has happened to you ? Certainly I am 
not in so pleasant a mood as usual, and I should think you 
ought to know the reason of it right well ; you have put me out. 
(Startled and astonished.) <4 I! Good Heaven, I know nothing 
of the matter." Remember, I, pray you, what has taken place 
to-day, and especially your conduct at breakfast and after dinner. 
' 4 Yes, I have, but only obscurely, an idea of what you allude 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 143 

to ; but I only feel it ; I can see nothing in you, as my Albert is 
not here ; tell me, if you please, the matter. (I did so, and she 
quickly remembered the occurrences ; nevertheless, she said :) 
I was not in the wrong, either in the morning or at dinner. My 
intentions were good." That is not the question ; it is whether 
you did not receive from me, in an excited and irritable manner, 
a reproof which was well deserved. (She weeps, falls into 
cramps, trembles, complains of violent pains all over her body, 
and says :) " I did not deserve it ; I was in the right." If you still 
adhere to that opinion, I do not know, in fact, what to think of 
the much extolled, high moral sense of somnambulists. I am 
somewhat comforted only by the fact, that you are half awake, 
and in a very low degree of magnetic sleep. If Albert were 
here, he certainly would not approve your conduct. "I feel 
that he will yet come." Why to-day, when, in your last crisis, 
you fixed his next visit as late as the thirteenth 1 " He must 
come, if I am to have it in my power to awake." Can you not 
wake otherwise 1 " No, your influence is now withdrawn from 
me ; I am, as it were, screwed together." What can I do to 
relieve you 1 " Nothing, nothing at all ; I must wait, and lie 
and sleep until Albert comes, or you change your view and 
take a better humor, if I should have to lie several days." I 
am heartily sorry for that ; but my view of your behavior I 
cannot and will not change. Albert will certainly not stay 
away under these circumstances. (She lay in this way, as if 
dead, for an hour, until she said :) "Ah, now he will appear, 
my Albert ; I see him at a great, great distance ; he approaches." 
(She is evidently rejoiced.) Will you now be relieved from 
your rigidity ? (No answer follows ; she shows a very earnest 
face, and at length weeps violently. In about five minutes she 
says :) I was entirely in the wrong ; I saw it immediately in 
my Albert as he came nearer. He was observing me for a long 
time before he came, and saw my sufferings ; but he purposely 
delayed relieving me from them immediately. I deserved it ; 
why was I so self-willed and passionate ! I have hurt the feel- 
ings of all, by my unhandsome behavior. Albert says, you were 
entifely right in giving me the reproof; I should have been 
perfectly silent about that letter, and then all would have been 
avoided ; neither ought I to have been irritable and offended, 



144 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

inasmuch as your motive was perfectly kind. He says further, 
that you must always tell me what is not right about my 
conduct, that you must indeed do it with some management, be- 
cause my nerves are so excitable, but that this nervousness does 
not excuse me for doing as I have done." I will do so, and 
proceed with a constant regard to your morbid state, when it 
happens that I must speak. "But understand well, that you 
are always to tell me the whole truth ; in this article, Albert 
says, you must not spare me." I understand you, and I am 
right glad that Albert has taken my view of the matter. Had 
the contrary been the case, I should not have known what to 
think of him. " I was half waking ; this was the reason why 
my self-will mastered me. Albert has now given me a lesson, 
and he is looking at you with a pleasant countenance. (A 
pause.) I could now wake up, but I may not, because I have 
lost too much strength in the last three hours. I must recover 
it from Albert first, through your hand. He will stay yet longer 
with me, because I require his presence." Is it then a perfect 
magnetic crisis in which you now are 1 " Yes, but I shall still 
wake up without the magnetic cramps." Can I then put some 
questions to you, which take up again the important subject 
we were speaking of lately 1 " Yes, I now see every thing in 
Albert as heretofore, quite clearly ; and I have now reached the 
highest degree of clairvoyance of which I am capable. I shall 
continue sometime yet in this degree. This faculty will after- 
wards decline with the disease." Tell me if there is really 
what is called a middle state for departed souls 1 " Albert says, 
Buch a state undoubtedly exists, in which all souls must tarry, 
for a longer or shorter time after death."* Is it a definite place 
you mean] "Yes, it is the earth and its atmosphere, and the 
moon that accompanies the earth, and an extensive region 
beyond." The moon is really then, as you said before, a 
destined abode for departed souls 1 *'I did not say so. There 
are departed souls there ; but this is only a temporary 



• The world of spirits is not heaven nor is it hell, but it is a middle place 
or state between both ; for thither man after death first comes, and then after 
some time, he is, according to his life in the world, either elevatod into 
heaven or cast into hell. — //. ty H. 421. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 145 

porary residence for them, if they will.* It is true, many have 
no mind to strive upwards. It is not God's will, that souls 
after death should wander hither and thither uncertainly, and 
not reach immediately a lasting residence ; they are all in fault 
for this themselves. Even the most advanced souls make some 
stay after death, though a brief one, in their proper place in this 
middle kingdom. Every soul takes with it into the other world 
something imperfect that must be fully stripped away. Every 
care about the things of earth, which they have left, must be 
removed ; the best of souls, however, may take something of this 
kind along with them. These, however, by their internal wealth 
and by divine aid, soon become free from it, and rise to the 
place of their further destination. "f Does this middle state 
extend also to the inhabitants of the other planets — to Venus, for 
example 7 " There is a happy abode in Venus ; it is a longer 
residence for human souls ; but neither do they remain here ; it 
is not the earth and the moon alone that form this middle state. " 
But are all souls together in this place without order and 
arrangement 7 " No, no, that is impossible ; the middle state 
also has its divisions, and the soul immediately after death is 
directed by a guardian spirit to the place where it belongs. 
There are classes and degrees in the middle realm, like grada- 
tions of happiness and misery.]: (A pause.) Oh, happy is he 
who brings with him little that is earthly or dark, into this 
state !" Do the souls form their own shape after death as they 
like 1 " Yes, by means of the fine substance you call nerve- 
spirit ; but they can by no means give themselves a form at 
their own option. They can do this only so far, as that their 



* A novitiate spirit, or spiritual man, is led about and brought into va- 
rious societies, as well good as evil and is explored whether he is affected 
with goods and truths and in what manner, or whether he is affected with 
evils and falses. 

t If he is affected with goods and truths he is led away into evil socie- 
ties and is led into good societies, and also with various ones until he comes 
into a society corresponding to his own natural affection, and there he 
enjoys the good corresponding to that affection, and this until he puts off 
the natural affection, and puts on the spiritual, and then he is elevated 
into heaven.— T. C. R. 281. 

t All the societies there (in the world of spirits) which are innumerable, 
are wonderfully arranged in order, according to natural affections, good 
and evil.— T. 6. R. 281. 

7 



146 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

true essence shall always be perceivable in their form. They 
cannot appear better than they are ;* but this is a thing they do 
not desire. What would it profit! There, all are seen through 
at once.f Every soul appears after death in such a form as is 
an image of its essence, and this is made out of the finest parts 
of the material (materie) which envelops the spirit* The soul 
also recognizes itself forthwith as to its true worth and charac- 
ter as it is recognized by other spirits. Playing the hypocrite, 
and putting on false faces here terminate.' '§ Can the soul in 
this middle state, educate itself in good, or still repent 1 " Yes, 
if it will ; but there are quite too many there who do not will.|| 
Only think, there are such there as still deny immortality. IT O 
such forms ! O Albert, I shudder at them ; do not show me 
any of them ; I shudder only to think of them." What ! those 
who deny the immortality of the soul in that state 1 It is not 
possible. " I tell you the truth. Such are like persons stun- 



* In the other life it is not lawful for any one to counterfeit affections 
which are not properly his own, thus neither to induce on himself faces 
contrary to the love in which he is ; all, whoever are there, are reduced, 
into such a state that they speak as they think, and show by the looks and 
gestures what they will. — H. fy H. 457. 

t Such is a spirit after passing through the first and second states spoken 
of above ; wherefore he there, when he is viewed by the eyes, is imme- 
diately known as to his quality, not only from the face, but also from the 
body, and likewise from the speech and gestures. — H. fy H. 552. 

t Every man after death, puts off the natural which he had from the 
mother and retains the spiritual which he had from the father, together 
with a kind of border for circumambient accretion] from the purest things 
of nature, around it.— T. C. R. 103. 

§ The reason, also, why the faces are changed is because in the other 
life it is not lawful for any one to counterfeit affections which are not 
properly his own, thus neither to induce on himself, faces, contrary to the 
love in which he is. — H. § H. 457. 

The faces of hypocrites are changed later than the faces of the rest. — 
H. 8f H. 458. 

II And they (evil spirits) have been heard also to declare that they 
indeed could will and act according to such arcana (of angelic wisdom) 
but that they would not; when they were told that they might will them 
if they would only shun evils as sins, they said that they could do that 
also, but that they would not ; hence it appeared very evident that the 
wicked as well as the good have equally the faculty of liberty. — D. 
L. W. 2GG. 

II The seventh (new comer from tho natural world) after this said, " If 
I believed that there is a heaven and a hell, and thence a life after death, 
1 should also believe that birds and beasts would likewise live.. Are not 
some of them equally moral and rational as men? It is denied that 
beast* live; wherefore 1 deny that men do ; the reason is equal, one 
follows from the other. What is man but an animal."— T. C. R. 160. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 147 

ned and at a loss, and do not know how they have been trans- 
lated to this state.* They appear to themselves quite stupid ;f 
they know not what to set about in their present condition." But 
these sceptics are often, here, men of most understanding. "That 
is true ; but here they have the sensible world upon which they 
employ their understanding, earthly plans and operations to 
which they apply it. Here, they can shine by means of it. 
There, the world of sense exists no longer, and in case their 
spirit has gathered nothing, they possess nothing,} and their 
former splendor is changed into obscurity. 5 Oh, these unhappy 
beings ! They will not, because io be able is attended with 
infinite difficulty ; they are not able because they will not. I 
mean, will not become good, repent. The soul is estimated by 
this standard in that world. He that had no faculties here, but 
was of a good disposition, is preferred far before him who was 
the reverse. The understanding is only a means, not an end 
and aim. Moral purity is the highest thing, and faith in Him 
Who is desirous of making us happy, and that is Jesus Christ. 
O that we might mark this solemn truth : To whom much is 



* Of such caverns which are nothing but eternal work-houses, hell 
consists. It has been given me to enter into some and see, in order that I 
might make it known ; and they were all seen as vile; neither did one 
of them know who or in what employment he had been in the world ; but 
the angel who was with me said to me, that this had been in the world a 
servant, this a soldier, this an officer, this a priest, this in dignity, this in 
opulence; and yet they all know no otherwise than that they "had been 
slaves and like companions. — T, C. R. 281. 

t Then those who in the world have been in extreme love of rule from 
the love of self, and at the same time in superior elevation of understand- 
ing, appear as to their bodies like Egyptian mummies, and as to their 
minds stupid and idiotic. — D. L. W. 424. 

X For whatever a man acquires to himself in the world, this remains, 
and he carries it with him alter death, and also it is increased and titled, 
but within the degree of the affection and desire of trutli and good, not 
beyond it. Those who had but little affection and desire, receive but 
little.— H. $ H. 349. 5 

§ It has been granted me to speak with several of the learned after their 
departure from the world ; with some who were of most distinguished 
reputation, and were celebrated by their writings in the literary world, 
and with some who were not so celebrated, but still had hidden wisdom 
in themselves. Those who in heart denied the Divine, howsoever they 
confessed Him with the mouth, were become so stupid, that they could 
scarcely comprehend any civil truth, still less any spiritual truth. It was 
perceived and also seen that the interiors of their minds were so doted, 
that they appeared as black (such things in the spiritual world are pre- 
sented to the sight) and thus that they could not endure any heavenly 
light.— H. 4r H> 35 *. 






148 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

given, of him will much be required. (A pause.) No, no 
spirit goes to heaven, that has in it the least of what is impure ; 
it must away, quite away. But if it is small and trifling, then, 
the time also is short in which it gets rid of it."* (A pause.) 
Has the soul then its full memory after death? "Yes 
indeed.' 'f In that case, no soul is lacking in the necessary 
helps to its moral improvement. " There you are mistaken. 
The earth was its place of exercise, education, preparation. 
Souls have doubtless a memory of all former aids, but the aids 
themselves they no longer have ; they have nothing but memory. 
They must have it in their power to wish for new helps, and in 
that case they will receive them ; but when the interior im- 
pulse to this wishing and striving fails, they do not fall in his 
way of their own accord, as happens on earth, where they, as 
it were, force themselves upon us. If the ^spirit after death 
strives, from its own free impulses, after what is pure and 
divine, new instruction is not withheld from it. But this 
endeavor is too often wanting, J for this, it is necessary 
we should have power to draw something good from our- 
selves. (A pause.) Oh, God is a just and loving Father ; He 
wills that all should be assisted, that all should come to the 
knowledge of the truth and be saved. But where obstinate re- 
sistance finds place, there, is only unavailing remorse, there, is 
hell." (A pause. Without her knowledge I had again ap- 
plied the armature to the magnet, and, closing my hand upon it, 
softly laid it at the pit of the stomach. Immediately she grasped 
my hand with both of hers, and endeavored eagerly to open my 
fingers, and, not succeeding, seemed to be very much grieved at 
it. Scarcely had I laid the stone, naked, on her stomach, when 
the lower part of her body became agitated, her hands suddenly 
moved to seize the stone, and were as suddenly withdrawn. 



* Those who are so regenerated and prepared that they have need to 
reject only natural impurities with the body, are immediately conveyed by 
the angels into heaven ; I have seen them taken up soon after the hour 
of death.— H. <$■ H. 491. 

t That man, when he passes out of the world has also with him all his 
memory, has been shown (to me) by many circumstances. — H. fy H. 462. 

X The third state of man after death, or of his spirit, is a state of instruc- 
tion : this state is for those who come into heaven, and become angels, but 
not for those who come into hell, for such cannot be instructed. — H. 4* H. 
518. 



HlSTORl OF THE CASE. 149 

The second finger of the right hand, while the motions of the 
lower part of the body continued, slowly approached the arma- 
ture, but was jerked quickly back again the moment it came in 
contact with it. This was several times repeated, and was 
somewhat as when a child tries to bring his finger near the 
light, which he knows will burn him, and, as soon as he feels 
the heat, jerks it suddenly away. At length she said :) " The 
stone is good for me, only do not make passes with it ; it is 
then too strong in its effect ; without the iron, however, you 
might do so. Let it lie quietly as it does. (At this moment 
she turned a little on one side, and the stone suddenly fell from 
her body to the floor.) This startled her very much, and excited 
some convulsions. (A pause.) Albert is standing quite near you ; 
he is looking into you." Does he see my thoughts'? "How 
should he not ]* Your spiritual substance and his, at this moment, 
are, as it were, blended;f if you had not a body you would be able 
also to see into him. Through Albert I too now see what you 
are thinking, much more distinctly. ,, What was I thinking of 
just now? "You had a desire to see Albert. " You have 
guessed right. " Not guessed, I know it surely. You have a 
mind to see Albert ; but it would not be good for you ; he says 
that he loves you." Tell him in return that I am rejoiced at it, 
and say to him that I wish to see him." He knows it, and 
bids me tell you, that at some future time, when your body can 
bear it, he will appear to you again in a vivid dream. (This has 
really happened more than once since that time ; it must be ad- 
mitted, however, that nothing can be inferred from such ap- 
pearances.) But now, Albert will leave me, I must wake. (A 
cramp seizes her right arm ; she trembles violently. By grasp- 
ing her arm strongly with my left hand the cramp was removed, 
but, in place, of it there succeeds a severe pain. R. now raises 
the first three fingers of her right hand, holding them on high 
and directing them towards the right side of my breast. When 



* But 1 can assert, that spirits, who are with man, know and observe 
the minutest particulars of his memory and thoughts, and this more clearly 
than man does himself. — A. C. 248S. 

t When an angel of heaven determinates his sight to others, in such 
case his interiors are communicated and transferred into them, according 
to the quantity and quality of his love; and are received by them accord- 
ing to the quantity and quality of their love .—A. C. 10,130. 



150 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

I asked the reason of this gesture, she replied:) " Through 
these three fingers Albert infuses vital power, which flows espe- 
cially from your breast into my arm." (This posture was kept 
up for about four minutes, whereupon there followed a sudden 
agitation of her right arm and breast. To my question, what 
was the matter, she answered :) I imbibed with my arm some- 
what more power than was necessary and good. This was to 
be got rid of; hence the agitation." Scarcely was this over, 
when she woke up without further cramps, cheerful and 
strengthened, after sleeping four hours and a half. 

It is further to be observed as to this crisis, that in the first 
half hour of the sleep R. at one time directed her right eye to 
mine. But as, from the circumstances above mentioned, there 
was no operation on my part, the eye became fixed, and kept 
rigidly its first direction. This continued until Albert came and 
released her. This eye pained her at ten o'clock at night, after 
she had been already so long awake. 

June llih. 

In the afternoon, at half past four, R. fell into a half-sleep, 
which lasted more than three hours. She ascribed it to a bodily 
cause, which, however, she would not name. Albert was not 
present. She did not see clearly or far. At first she did not 
even observe persons with whom I put myself in communica- 
tion by giving them my hand. About an hour afterwards, when 
I again extended my hand to my sister, who was standing near 
me, she saw more distinctly, and as soon as I touched her, com- 
plained of a painful burning in her left eye. My sister M. was 
suffering at the time from an inflamed eye, which was also the 
left one. Of the magnet she said on this day that it cooled her 
very much. The positive pole, she affirmed, acted with a bene- 
ficial and cooling effect on her ; the negative, on the contrary, 
was cold and contracting, as if breezing, and somewhat disa- 
greeable. Has the effect of the magnet any analogy with my in- 
fluence on you 1 " Yes, but still the difference is great. Your 
power is a living one, warm and animating ; that is cold and, be- 
yond comparison, less beneficial to me." Do you see to-day in- 
to your own body ? " Only with difficulty ; there is a kind of mist 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 151 

before my inner eye. If you wish me to see more clearly, lay 
your hand on my forehead ; this excites my vision for some time. 
Looking into myself, however, is always a thing attended 
with some difficulty, because it is a kind of return, a forcible 
drawing-back, a reversal of the life-stream— I know not what 
name to give it. It is something that goes against me." (I 
was suddenly summoned from her couch to write a letter. Not- 
withstanding I wrote it only two steps distant from her, she fell 
into a state of insensibility, and said afterwards, when I asked 
her the reason of this accident :) " Your spirit was far from 
mine, you were engaged with something quite different, and 
for that reason I could no longer think." (During the greater 
part of the crisis after this she lay quiet, her eyes half open but 
looking askance, and having the pupils unusually dilated ; she 
did not speak, and woke up all at once, without cramps, a little 
before eight.) 

June 13ih. 

At seven in the evening, after several hours of head-ache 
and qualms, there came on very violent cramps of the breast 
and difficulty of breathing, attended with pain, and lasting three 
quarters of an hour. The general cramps more immediately in- 
troducing the sleep, and coming on after the cessation of those 
in the breast, lasted for a quarter of an hour, and terminated by 
degrees in an apparently natural sleep. This last continued, 
however, only eight minutes, after which the face brightened 
up, the arms were crossed over the breast, and a universal sen- 
sation of pleasure was visibly manifested. The lips moved a 
long time in silence ; at length I inquired : Whence came the 
hard struggle of to-day 1 " The disease has now reached its 
highest degree." But you said some time ago, that half the 
disease was surmounted! "I said truly ; I spoke then of the 
period of the disease, but now of its expression and its violence. 
The cramps indeed from this time will be more violent, but the 
sleeps will be shorter. The highest degree of the magnetic 
state which I was destined to reach, is attained to-day." How 
is it with the flower 1 " It is there with my Albert ; its cup un- 
folds more and more ; Oh, how glorious it will shortly be ! JFive 



152 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

new leaves are again withered ; now only thirteen more. (After 
a pause.) From this time you have a stronger attractive in- 
fluence over me in the magnetic state, because my disease is on 
the wane." Whence is this ] I should have thought the con- 
trary. " Albert finds it good ; he has not thought fit, however, 
to tell me explicitly the reason of it. I think he will remove 
from me somewhat further and longer, and increase your in- 
fluence upon me instead, which now is very beneficial to me. 
But it will be of advantage to you also. By degrees — alas ! I 
do not like to think of it — I must be weaned entirely from his in- 
fluence. This is a sad thought to me." "When will you re- 
ceive the next visit from Albert ? " If nothing unusual hap- 
pens, a week from to-morrow. Ah, that is a happy circum- 
stance ; the interval is long, and indicates a speedy recovery. 
In this interval, however, I shall have several indispositions ; 
also half-waking states ; for example, on Sunday, Tuesday, and 
Thursday evenings, at seven o'clock. This will be the case, if 
something unusual does not intervene to interrupt the order, 
something I cannot foresee." (A pause.) Is Albert alone 
with you 1 " Yes." Does he stay during the whole crisis with 
you 1 " Yes." Why does he not accompany you to Venus or 
the Sun 1 " Albert says, that after so hard a struggle as was 
that of to-day, so distant a departure from my body would be 
hurtful to me." Is Albert then here in Schwaikheim 1 " Yes, 
(smiling,) he takes pleasure in your company ; at this moment 
he is looking at you again in a very affectionate and friendly 
manner ; he loves you. Oh, if you could only see him but for 
a moment ! O Albert, afford him this gratification ; he wishes 
it so much ; can you not then do it 1 No, he cannot and must 
not, on any account, do it. It would be of the greatest detri- 
ment to you." Would my nerves be too much shaken by it ] 
11 Your nerves are considerably stronger than before ; but if 
you should see Albert, you would, of necessity, very soon wither 
away and die. Oh, you are yet much wanted here. Pray God, 
that He will suffer you to live yet a long time, that when He 
summons you, you may be able to stand in your knowledge and 
moral perfection before them. O pray, ever more fervently, ever 
more heartily. (A pause, during which she lays her left hand 
on my breast.) You will preach on Sunday ; that is well ; you 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 153 

must preach heartily, and with power. I will derive power to 
you for this, and from Albert. (She repeats the motions al- 
ready described.) Do you feel the stream that is entering your 
breast? "Yes, I feel an unusual warmth there. That is 
from my Albert.* (After some minutes :) That is enough ; 
your health is now right well established. (A pause.) Albert 
is now quite near you ; Oh, you should see his splendor ! He 
is often near you ; he loves you ; he accompanies you very 
often ; he has already been with you in church. Oh if your 
spirit were not so strongly chained to your body, so that you 
could occasionally make a journey with him and me to the 
higher world, you too would feel a disgust there at the gross- 
ness and he aviness of this world of sense. There, faith, love, is 
the highest thing. O thither — to go thither at last we should 
all summon up our utmost powers." (A pause.) You have 
heretofore asserted that Albert is your guardian spirit, have you 
not? "I have." Have all men such an one. "Certainly." 
Is Albert mine also 1 " No, only at present he is nearer to you 
through me. He has known you indeed from your youth, but 
only since I came into magnetic relation with you has it been 
granted him to approach you closely." Will he again leave me 
at the conclusion of your case 1 Yes, yet will he always take 
an interest in you. You have another guardian spirit ; Albert 
knows him. I also have seen him." Why do you now tell me 
this for the first time 1 " Because I have just now learned it 
from Albert." Where did you see him 1 " He is one of those 
five higher spirits who witnessed that escort of angels of which 
I told you. His form attracted me without my knowing that he 
was your guardian spirit. At your question just now I turned 
myself to Albert, who told me that it was he. Your guardian 
spirit is a beautiful and youthful form, oh, so lovely, so child- 
like.f Who was he 1 tell me, my Albert, it will please my 



* Sometimes they go about, and ask those they meet whether they will 
give them some warmth, which spirits indeed are enabled to do.— A. C. 

t Those who are in the inmost or third heaven, are in innocence of the 
third or inmost degree. They appear simple in the external form, and 
before the eyes of the angels, of the inferior heavens, they seem as infants, 
thus as little ones, and also as those who are not very wise, although they 
are the wisest of the angels of heaven.— H. Sf H. 280. 

7* 



154 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

friend, if I can inform him of this. (A pause.) Ah, I may tell 
you about him. It is already more than a hundred years, since 
he died in Hamburg, where he was a skilful physician. His 
name was K — r. He was your attendant from your childhood ; 
he was a pious man and did much good, especially to the poor. 
Oh, he that does good to the poor is highly esteemed of God. He 
was a very skilful man, and might have become very wealthy ; 
but he only took from the rich what he needed in order quietly 
to follow his calling. (A pause.) Often have you heard his 
voice in your younger years." How could I ever hear his 
voice 1 I never knew that a higher being accompanied me. 
a Very often our guardian spirits form the voice of our con- 
science;* this is a high, divine influence that supports our 
weakness." But such a secret, spiritual influence appears to 
prejudice the freedom of man. " Oh no, this operation is not of 
that kind. As little as warnings from friends, instructions from 
the experienced appearances in life, which by God's will come 
not in vain before our eyes, prejudice our freedom, so little is 
this the case, when your guardian spirit reminds and warns 
you. Man is always left free in choosing his resolves. (A 
pause.) But what is this I hear from Albert ! Your guardian 
spirit will leave you shortly." Why] "He will pass to a 
higher destination ; but another higher spirit, of whom however 
I can say nothing particularly, has already been in communi- 
cation for some time with your guardian spirit, on your account. 
To this spirit he will consign the charge he has hitherto had of 
you. (A pause of some length.) To-day my Albert has a 
palm-crown on his head." What is the meaning of this orna- 
ment 1 " He has been permitted to-day to fetch away a pious 
soul,f whom he crowned with this ornament. The garland is 
now on his own head again." Was this the soul of a deceased 



* It is a thing most true, that man is governed from the Lord by spirits 
and angels ; when evil spirits begin to have dominion, then the angels 
labor to avert evils and falses, and hence there exists a combat ; it is this 
combat which is rendered sensible by perception, inward dictate and 
conscience. — A. C. 227. 

t It is also their (the angels') happiness to raise up the dead to the life 
of eternity, and afterwards, if it be possible, and there be a capacity in the 
soul, to introduce it into heaven ; from these offices they receive a delight 
which cannot be described.— A. C. 454. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 155 

man] " Yes — to-day there died, in a country far distant from 
this, a man exceedingly poor, who was very good and pious, but 
was scarcely noticed by men. This is that happy one. Here 
one can rightly see what external show and riches avail in the 
higher life. (Smiling.) It gave him no pain to part from his 
treasures. He has now a glorious place of abode. Ob, the 
earthly is nought. If I could only stamp this truth on the minds 
of all men 1 (A pause.) You would like to inquire further 
concerning the spiritual world ; I will answer gladly." There 
are men who say they have seen spirits — how is this ] *'• They 
may be right ; there are men to whom departed souls can be, 
and are permitted to be, nigh. But it is, for the most part, a 
morbid condition of the nerves, which gives the faculty of 
seeing them. ,, But who, in this case, can be sure that there is 
no delusion 7 " Many, doubtless, are deceived by their imagi- 
nation ; they believe themselves to see departed souls when it 
is not so. But who can distinguish how 1 He who experiences 
any thing of the kind is soon convinced ; but it is a different 
thing to convince a third person that such an appearance was 
real. Only thus much can be said : let the thing be examined 
carefully ; do not believe lightly, but, on the other hand, do not 
reject all that goes beyond the limits of ordinary experience." 
But whereby may we know a real apparition 1 " It may be 
safely believed that departed spirits have appeared, when sober 
persons, of good credit in other matters, relate of such appari- 
tions, things which cannot be known in the usual, natural way ; 
when they relate of them facts respecting the future which are 
fulfilled and are of a kind that a man could not know of them. 
Doubt will indeed always cleave to the natural man ; this 
cannot be helped." You say then, that there are spirits, so 
called, which can make themselves visible to men 1 " ¥es, 
it happens so in certain cases when it is good for themselves or 
those to whom they wish or are enjoined to appear." The dead, 
then, are not permitted to return to their former abode, and show 
themselves when they will 3 "Without God's will or per- 
mission, nothing whatever happens. Departed souls have their 
bounds in this matter. The friends to whom love attracts them, 
are often permitted to see them in silence. Their own attract 
them more than strangers." Can evil spirits also appear to 



156 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

men 1 " O yes, both the good and the evil, under the conditions 
I have mentioned. (A pause.) You are not hitherto fully satis- 
ged of what I have told you on this subject ; this I see in you ; 
but what I have now said to you about the realm of spirits is 
certainly true ; I am not mistaken. It would gratify me if you 
would believe it." Much, in truth, is still inexplicable to me ; 
meanwhile, I find nothing in the most of your explanations 
which I could not allow to be possible, and perhaps admit. "You 
will be more and more convinced, the longer and more earnestly 
you test what I have told you. But I wish no further conver- 
sation of this kind to-day ; it taxes me too much. (A pause of 
about a quarter of an hour.) " You wish, as I feel, to ask a 
question." Yes, it relates to yourself. " Your question con- 
cerns my health, or the time of my recovery." No, I have al- 
ready wished several times to ask you, from what cause your 
magnetic state originated ; whether, perchance, it had its rise in 
your former life ? " The foundation of it was laid in my early 
life. While yet a child, I suffered from affections of the abdo- 
men, enlargement of the mesenteric glands was suspected, and 
there was doubtless something of that kind. These indurations 
gave me a great deal of trouble till my ninth year. Till my 
sixth, I suffered from obstinate constipation, and required a clys- 
ter almost daily. After my ninth year I passed happily through 
the usual diseases of children, although the whooping-cough 
tormented me long, in my tenth year. Afterwards I had the 
green sickness also for a long time. In my eleventh year I 
suffered under a dangerous erysipelas of the face, but was other- 
wise tolerably healthy till my fourteenth year. On the 11th of 
November of this year, 1829, an important change took place 
in my system ; I was very sick at the occurrence of my first pe- 
riod. Soon after, an eruption like that of the itch attacked me, 
which unfortunately was not properly treated. It was repelled 
too early and suddenly from the skin. The first consequence of 
this was, that swellings made their appearance on my feet, 
which would not heal. For more than a year they were covered 
with sores ; I suffered greatly from them, and, after all, when 
they healed at last, all the consequences of that maltreatment 
were not removed. I missed my period for four months, and 
suffered innumerable inconveniences resulting from it. Nor 



HISTORF OF THE CASE. 167 

were the proper measures taken against this irregularity. At 
length the long desired period returned, and from this time I 
was pretty well, until the past year. My bowels, however, 
were never afterwards perfectly in order, and my nerves mani- 
fested great excitability on the slightest occasions. So early as 
June of the preceding year, at a time of great importance to me, 
because it determined the character of 'my whole future life, 
Albert once appeared to me in a dream. Any pretty strong 
external cause could now bring on the magnetic state, and 
this was not long wanting. (A pause of some length. She 
begins to tremble.) Ah, my Albert, what are you doing? 
Are you ascending with me 1 M Whither are you going with 
Albert 1 "To a place where I never was before. (Joy- 
fully :) Only think, a whole company* of children come 
to him to-day : he means to teachf them, and wishes me to see 
and hear it. (She gives signs of the greatest joy.) Oh, how 
am I rejoiced ! Albert, you are kind ; you do me a pleasure 
wherever you can. (A pause.) Oh, teach me to become so 
minded as you are ; let me too learn with your children when 
they come. (A pause.) No, that, Albert says, may not be. 
(After a few minutes she is seized with a joy which causes 
her to tremble, and she says :) Now, see, now the children are 
coming. O how beautiful ! And among them is a sister of ray 
own, who died when a little child — how delightful that is to 
me. She is looking on me. And how friendly, how loving 
and soft is my Albert in his treatment of these children — it is a 
spectacle you should see once. J And then how they cling 
about him ; how they revere him. O that I were such a child !" 
What is the subject of his instructions ] " He is instructing 
them about God, and telling them it is His love which has brought 
them to the blessed residence where they now are ; and that 
this would not have been the case, if He had not sent His Son ; 
out of love to men, into the world, and that by their baptism^ 



* Several times when some infants have been together with me in 
choirs, &c— H. $ H. 343. 

t After this first age is past, they (infants) are transferred into another 
heaven where they are instructed by masters ; and so on. — H. fy H. 334. 

t For nothing is more delightful and happy to the angels, than to instruct 
those who come from earth into another life. — A. C. 2284 . 

§ But this (baptism) is done on earth; but in the Heavens infants are 



168 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

here they had claims to His peculiar love. This is the sum of 
his instructions.* (A pause.) There are several among them, 
who heard something concerning God, from men here in the 
world. The children appear, by their forms, to be as from 
different parents. (A pause.) O ye lovely, ye good ones, 
would I were so childlike, so pure as ye ! that I too could look 
so innocently on my Albert as you do. Oh, when I look at him, 
it pains me that I cannot. (She prays in silence ; then aloud.) 
Thou All-knowing, knowest my dispositions. Oh, teach me to 
approach Thee in humility and the temper of a child. Lead 
me on ever in self-knowledge ; give me pleasure in Thy Word, 
and let it be my delight. Make me good, O Lord, make me 
good. (A pause.) How much, O Father, hast Thou already 
done for me ! Ah, how thankful should I be ! Then should I 
evermore be advancing in the knowledge of Thee. O Thou 
faithful God, Who art near to all and to me also, Who givest 
rest to all the weary, refreshes t the sick, and fillest the sound 
with strength — Oh, that all might learn to seek Thee ! Thee, 
Who alone art good, my soul praises ; Thee my prayers do 
glorify. (A pause.) Full of zeal rny soul offers to Thee, 
Father of All, its thanks. The cheerful mind and the quiet 
peace of the heart are Thy gifts alone ; and Thou wilt give 
them to me also, once more. What equals the faithfulness of 
my God ! Yea, Father, receive it, receive my gratitude, the 
deepest thankfulness of my heart. Soon, soon Thou wilt 
deliver me from my heavy sufferings. Then will I honor my 
body as Thy gift. (The preceding short sentences she spoke 
very slowly and softly, and always in such a way, that a short 
pause occurred between each one. My sister M. desired to 
say something to R., and I wished, on the occasion, to try 
whether she was able to hear her without my being the me- 
dium. I removed therefore so far from her couch as to be 
beyond the magnetic atmosphere. M. put a question to her; 



introduced by baptism into the Christian Heaven, and angels are there 
assigned to them by the Lord, to take care of them. — T. C. R. 677. 

*From these things it may be manifest that infants do not come 
instantly after death into an angelic state, but that they are successively 
introduced by the knowledges of good and truth, and this according to 
all heavenly order.— H, <jr H. 936, 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 159 

R. however did not hear, but cried without intermission : Come 
back, I pray you, you tear me, you pull me; come back!" 
(When I came back and took M.'s hand she was soon quieted, 
and saw my sister, but always plainer when I looked at her 
myself. If I turned my look from her, she saw her only ob- 
scurely and wrapped, as it were, in mist. As soon as I had 
taken M.'s hand, she said to R. : Griiss Gott, R ! She heard 
it and replied in a dissatisfied manner :) " Griiss Gott ! (Sha- 
king her head.) Griiss Gott! We should not say so." (I 
asked :) How then 1 " Rather, God's favor or God's blessing 
be on thee !" (M. added :) Or, as Jesus said : Peace be with 
thee ] " Yes, that is thesame thing. (A pause.) Oh, M. you 
are good, very good ; I love you ; your heart is full of love. 
(A pause.) Yes, my Albert, I see the writing." What 
writing 1 (She turns her head and her eye upwards, and looks 
slowly from right to left.) What are you observing ] M God 
alone is Love ! These words stand in golden writing, high 
among the stars.* My Albert has explained the characters to 
me. (A pause.) Blessed is that heart, that knows the love of 
God. (An interval of silence during which she prays. The 
lips move at last and she speaks, with her hands folded, the 
following verses, more rapidly than I could take them down.) 

God on Whom my bliss is founded, 
Be Thou to me both light and power : 

God, on Whom my all is grounded, 
Be my trust in every hour. 

When my feeble steps are sliding, 

And incautiously I stray, 
Make the thought with me abiding : 

Only goodness lasts for aye. 

If in life there's tribulation, 

And Thou'd'st have me to prevail, 
Stand at my side with Thy salvation, 

Stand, Lord, a Father without fail. 



*And I conversed with them (angels) about many things, amongst 
which also concerning this, that in the world, where 1 am in the body, 
there appear, in the time of night innumerable stars, greater and smaller, 
and that they are so many suns, which only transmit the light into the 
world of our sun; and when I saw that in your world also stars are to 
be seen, I conjectured that these may be as many as there are in the world 
where I am.— T. C. i?. 160. 



160 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

Thou art He my soul has chosen 

'Mid the sorrows of this life ; 
Thee my soul would fain repose on 

Wearied in this evil strife. 

You spoke so rapidly that I could not write the verses. " I 
will repeat them slowly to you. (When this had been done, 
she said :) My Albert now takes his departure : I shall awake 
shortly. (Immediately afterwards she stretched her limbs, as 
after a deep, natural sleep, made some convulsive movements 
with her arms, and woke up cheerful and strengthened, after 
nine o'clock.) 

June I5lh. 

At seven in the evening, after short cramps in the breast, 
preceded by head-ache for several hours, R. was attacked by 
a rigidity which lasted for two hours. Towards nine she spoke 
some words, very low, relating to her lungs and the spots still 
discoverable on them. She awoke, after a single violent agita- 
tion of the whole body, feeling very comfortable. 

June Ylih. 

On this day, the anniversary of a journey very critical in her 
fortunes, she was attacked at four in the afternoon with violent 
cramps in the breast ; she was not free from them so late as 
half past four ; all the objects in the chamber she saw, as she 
asserted with astonishment while yet awake, double, and stand- 
ing awry. A quarter of an hour after this she passed into the 
magnetic state, and to the question — whence the violent cramps 
of to-day 1 — replied :) " This is the anniversary of my journey 
from U. to G. The recollection of that event in my life ope- 
rates very strongly upon me. This day and hour a year ago I 
besought God, in tears and on my knees, to show me His right 
way." (She now all at once became speechless, her jaw was 
closed, and all her limbs became rigid. This state continued 
more than half an hour, and gave way at last by my repeatedly 
breathing into her face and laying my hands on her as usual. 
When she was again in the half-waking state, she showed a 
peevish mood, and reproached me that I had remonstrated 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 161 

earnestly with her for unbecoming behavior in a certain case 
on the morning of this day. Far from seeing the impropriety 
of her conduct, she had already shown anger and irritability 
in the morning; but now she broke out into violent dis- 
pleasure, and expressions which threw me into astonish- 
ment and determined me to leave her quietly alone. In 
this way she lay for three hours, again unmoved. All of 
a sudden she started up with the words:) "Ah, Albert! 
Albert! (A pause.) I saw him a moment, he is already gone 
again." What did he say to you? "I warn you, for the last 
time, no more to give ear to the evil voice you have followed for 
the last few hours. This is what he said ; he was very, ah, 
very serious. When Albert visits me again, I will ask him 
what is the meaning of the evil voice." Do not look for this 
out of yourself, R. ; it lies in your own heart, in your wounded 
vanity. " It is inconceivable to me, how I could act so ; ah, I 
was so self-willed, so perverse. Forgive me this behavior ; I 
will never repeat it ; still admonish me when I am awake. I 
shall now be more docile. (A pause.) No, I cannot compre- 
hend it ; it is not long since Albert was obliged to give me a 
similar reproof. I am, alas, not very near with Albert in my 
present state ; but there must be something more than com- 
mon about this evil voice ; I saw this in Albert. Believe 
me, I do not mean hereby to justify myself, but I saw it dis- 
tinctly in Albert." Well, we shall hear about it, when he visits 
you again. (When she woke about nine, she was astonished 
at the account I gave her of her conduct, and reproached her- 
self severely for it. On this occasion, also, she awoke with a 
single strong and general agitation of the body, and felt, after 
awaking, very comfortably.) 

June 18th. 

To-day R. lay in bed from some indisposition until three in 
the afternoon. There were some guests in the house, who en- 
tertained her several hours, by turns, with singing. This effort 
increased her weakness, and occasioned, about half past seven, 
a slight half-waking state, which, however, was so far from being 
profound, that she felt thirst in it, and drank water, a thing that 



162 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

never happened before. When I magnetized the water, she 
extolled the smell and taste of it as something uncommonly 
pleasant. She woke in the course of an hour in the most 
cheerful mood. 

June 19^. 

My brother C. called me to see R. at eight in the morning. 
I found her in a state of delirium. She spoke incoherently, 
sang, drummed with her fingers, saw persons she did not know 
dance round a table, jump over stones, and the like. I laid my 
hands on her stomach and forehead, which occasioned her some 
relief. To the question : Do you see rael I received no 
answer. After some minutes she answered me, "No." Do 
you hear me ] " Yes." With your ears ? " You foolish fellow ! 
ha, ha, ha ! What should I hear you with ? I never heard, in 
all my days, that one could hear with anything but ears." I 
know one who has asserted it of herself. " I do not understand 
you, do not speak so obscurely ; what does that mean V (She 
rubs her forehead, tries to pluck out her hair, and wrinkles her 
forehead often and quickly.) Have you pain in the head ? (No 
answer : she is unconscious ; she strikes her forehead and says :) 
" What is the matter ] What madness 1 You fools ! You are 
all asses! What will become of me 1 O God ! O God !" 
(With both my hands I press her forehead aud temples together 
for a few minutes, firmly willing her to sleep magnetically ; 
whereupon her face soon brightened up, and she says at last, 
after a deep sigh :) " Ah ! you are here, my benefactor ] I am 
heartily glad of it." Whence are these surprising phenomena 
in your state to-day 1 " What do you mean ] I do not under- 
stand you." (I told her what had occurred ; whereupon she 
said :) " I do not like this ; I did not know what I was about ; 
it was like a dream, and I had a swoon from the violence of 
the pain in my head. There was a confusion in my head, 
of which I have only an obscure idea. Madness must be 
something of this kind. I can say nothing definite respecting 
this state ; it is only as if I had had a preposterous dream. 
The whole proceeds from my having taken cold last night ; 
my period was checked, and occasioned this derangement. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 163 

Make three downward passes over me, I pray you, from the 
forehead to the toes, and then press your two hands firmly, as 
long as you can hold out, upon my knees ; by eleven o'clock, 
if you repeat this three times, the period will return, and no 
bad effects remain. (I did as she desired me, and in somewhat 
more than five minutes she said :) Now I feel a strong influx 
into my body downwards ; ah ! that does me good." What 
would have been the consequence, if you had not been treated 
by me as you directed ? " Alas ! I might then have gone 
crazy; that is terrible! I now see, for the first time, what 
melancholy consequences might have resulted. But now I 
shall wake up in a few minutes ; stay a little while with me 
after that. About eleven o'clock press my knees again, and in 
like manner at half past twelve ; my period will be restored 
before one. (A pause.) Ah, I see at this instant that I cannot 
wake up to-day without your willing it ; I depend entirely on 
you." But can you wake up at my bare wish 1 " No." You 
must then sleep, until you wake of yourself] " No, in any 
event, 1 should have communicated to you in due time, the 
means of waking me up. What means are there of this 
kind 1 " It will be accomplished either by a reversed pass 
from the stomach to the forehead, or by blowing on my fore- 
head. In case you prefer the latter, you must at the same 
time will earnestly that I wake up." (About ten o'clock I 
woke her up by blowing lightly on her forehead. The predic- 
tion that her period would return at one o'clock was punctually 
fulfilled, after my performing the prescribed manipulations at 
eleven and half past twelve.) 

At eight in the evening R. fell, without any warning, from 
her seat to the floor. After she was carried to the sofa, she 
slowly stretched out her arms and feet ; her breath was scarcely 
perceptible, her pulse extremely weak and small ; her features 
resembled those of one at the point of death ; her eyes were 
turned upward and her complexion was of death-like paleness. 
It was impossible for me, either by laying my hands or by 
breathing on her — means which had hitherto been effectual — 
to restore her to any animation. After this state had continued 
for more than an hour and a half, I had a mind to try some 
magnetic passes. But scarcely had I made the first from her 



164 HISTOKY OF THE CASE. 

forehead over the temples to the shoulders, when her body 
trembled violently, all its bands were relaxed, and she sudden- 
ly cried out " no passes ! no passes !" and awoke at the same 
moment to her ordinary life. 

June 20th. 

At half past ten in the morning there came on, after a short 
turn of sickness and a period of insensibility lasting a quarter 
of an hour, a half-waking state, in which R. spoke all kinds of 
things and partly wild ones, of which she had no recollection 
whatever in the magnetic state which directly followed it. A 
strong pressure of the head was what brought on the latter, 
together with magnetic consciousness. Immediately after her 
countenance had brightened up, she began to speak : " Early 
this morning I had a little shock of the nerves ; it is a sad 
thing that the slightest agitation of my feelings produces such 
an effect upon my system. My period is again in a measure 
repressed ; I must call upon you again for help." I willingly 
undertook to repeat the manipulation above described, and with 
so favorable a result, that the catamenia returned at five in the 
evening. (After a short pause she turned to me with the 
words :) Your stomach is out of order ; it is acid ; hence the 
acidity I have experienced myself for some days. My stom- 
ach will be better so soon as your own is brought right. 
It will be relieved in a measure by to-morrow. The day 
before yesterday you took cold in the stomach. A portion 
of vital force also escaped from you three days since, in 
laying your hand on the head of one of your guests ; this you 
should not have done ; it was not good for me either ; you should 
come into magnetic relation with no one for the present but my- 
self. (A pause.) To-day also I cannot wake up without your 
explicit will." Why is this sol " There has already been a 
diversity, in some states, in the mode of my spirit's returning to 
the body ; it depends on this circumstance." Can you not ex- 
press yourself more distinctly 1 "I want the necessary words ; 
neither can I fully see how the matter itself stands. Only this 
much I can say with confidence ; I saw in Albert, when he was 
with me last, that he wishes to disuse me gradually to himself 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 165 

and his influx. From this time, you are more and more to 
stand in his place with your vital power, a thing which now 
can no longer be of any prejudice to you ; you have gained 
considerably in strength. When Albert comes the next time, he 
will dispense lesspowertoyou. Notwithstanding, my system must 
imbibe the same quantity, until it is satisfied. You, therefore, 
must stand hereafter, more and more, in his place ; for which 
reason I shall depend, till my complete recovery, altogether on 
you, and shall not be able, even when Albert is present, to 
awake from a crisis without your help. But do not be con- 
cerned ; Albert knows well what he is about ; be assured it 
will not hurt you. (She said further before waking : ) It is of 
service to me that I had an attack to-day." Why so? "It is 
Friday, and that day is a favorable one to me." You are jest- 
ing surely ; is not one day the same as another 1 " O no, no, 
in my state it is otherwise." Then give me some reason for 
an opinion of this sort. (She thinks a long time and says at 
last :) " No, I cannot ; but yet it is the fact. But now I wish 
to rest a quarter of an hour. After this interval had passed 
she said shortly:) Wake me up — you know how to proceed." 
(I blew on her forehead, and she awoke.) 

June 2lst. 

So early as six in the evening the approaching crisis was 
announced by oppressions of the chest alternating with qualms. 
About seven o'clock the latter ceased, while the former went 
on increasing to such a degree, that I was several times appre- 
hensive of actual suffocation. To this were added, somewhat 
later, distortions of the face and writhings of every limb of the 
body into the most unnatural postures. About half past seven, 
R. at length asked me to lay my hand upon her, which was 
shortly followed by a general quietude of the system. She 
now slept quietly till eight, when, with a sudden start, she 
became magnetically awake, and forthwith began to speak: 
" God be praised ! this struggle too is past ; if I am to get well 
these are things I must submit to. It will seize me yet more 
violently hereafter." But whence proceeds the increased 
violence and obstinacy of your cramps ? M I have already told 



166 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

you, that the nearer my restoration, the harder they will be. 
My period is also concerned in it. A few passes over the head 
towards the stomach might doubtless have relieved me greatly, 
and spared me many pains." Why did you not tell me this 
before ? " Because it must not be resorted to. What might 
benefit me in one way would hurt me in another. I should 
very soon be raised to higher degrees of the magnetic state, 
and then — oh Heaven! then I might see no end of my suffer- 
ings. It would not be good. (She rises suddenly and turns 
her head to the right.) Ah, Albert, my Albert ! " Peace be 
with thee !" this was the salutation he just now gave me. 
Thou faithful friend ! How well do I feel when thou art with 
me ! (To me.) O this delight that pervades me, you should 
feel it once ! I no longer feel my body when Albert is so near 
and so intimately united with us both."* Is your Albert now so 
near to us again 1 " Yes, he stands quite near on your right and 
is looking into you. He smiles. (A pause.) He sees what is 
going on in your soul ; I too see it in Albert ; but I do not speak 
of it. Oh, how pleasantly he looks upon you ! When he smiles, 
I do not see it in his face, as with you, but in his whole person.f 
I see and feel it too quite otherwise than I perceive it in my 
waking state. (A pause.) Ah, in the society of such pure 
spirits a good soul must feel boundless happiness, and grow 
rapidly in heavenly perfection. How beautiful must it be, where 
you are permitted to be, my Albert. Might I but go with you, 
and not return again where there is so much suffering and im- 
perfection. (A pause.) 1 am still far from being prepared ; 
oh, I must become much better before I can reach that place. 
(A pause. Suddenly she gives a joyful start, and raises up her 



* How great the delight of heaven is, may be manifest only from this, 
that it is a delight to all in heaven to communicate their delights and 
blessings to another. — H. fy H. 399. 

t Hence it is, that the spirit of man, which is his mind in the body, is 
in all form, a man ; wherefore, man after death, is equally man, as in the 
world, only with the difference, that he has thrown away the cast-offs, 
which made his body in the world. Now because the human form is such 
that all the parts made a general whole, which acts as one, it follows that 
one cannot be moved out of place, and changed as to state, except with 
the consent of the rest ; for if one should be moved out of place, 
and changed as to state, the form which acts as one would suffer. — D. P. 
124. 









HISTORY OF THE CASE. 167 

hands with the words :) This is what you meant, my kind Al- 
bert? How would I thank you!" What did your Albert say 
to you 1 " Think, he tells me that I shall yet see in company 
with him, to-day, a pious soul departed, one well known to me, 
and whom I loved in life ; that she has come off victorious from 
the struggle of life, and now is happy." Who may this be 1 
(A pause.) Ye happy, ye enviable beings, who have passed 
through the hard combats of this world ! Oh, that I might be 
among you ! Ye have held out to the end ; but I also am bound 
to do it ; yes, I both must and will do it ; the Lord's will be 
done ; He will make it as light and easy to me as is needful. 
(A pause. She folds her hands and prays :) 

" By Thee, O Lord, the hosts of Heaven 
To us for guardians sure are giv'n, 

'Gainst ills on earth so rife. 
Make me, Father, in dejection, 
More worthy of their high protection ; 

Oh, purify my life ! 

Whence have you these verses 1 u I saw them in my Albert. 
(A pause of several minutes. Suddenly she raises up her 
arms and says :) I am to go with you to Venus ] Yes, my Al- 
bert, gladly ; where you are, there I feel happy. (She is sud- 
denly agitated over her whole system, and says, after a pause of 
a few seconds :) Here I am then with you, my faithful guide, 
in the fair land of good spirits. (With joyful surprise :) and I 
am to see her now, my Albert, now immediately ] Ah, there 
she is approaching already ; I see that she knew about me be- 
forehand from Albert. (Overjoyed.) Good Heaven, it is you 3 
you ? Ah, that is what I could not have looked for ; how am I 
rejoiced !" (Her joy causes her whole frame to be agitated.) 
Who ia ityou-see, besides Albert] "Ah, only think, my de- 
ceased friend T. of S. Yes, it is she. Oh, you are lovely and good ; 
soft and gentle creature, how happy you are now. Your abode 
then is here 1 (She converses in silence a quarter of an hour 
with the friend who had appeared to her ; at length she raises 
up her arms in a longing manner, and says :) Ah, there she 
soars away; she leaves me again : but thanks to you, dear one, 
you have strengthened my heart ; from this time you are my 
example and pattern. Thanks ! (A pause of several minute?.) 



168 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

Have you really spoken with your friend T. of S. 1 Was it her- 
self, or only an image of your highly excited imagination 1 
u You are always the sceptic ; (somewhat impatiently :) How 
can I give a proof to your sense and to your understanding ] Do 
not ask it ; it is out of the question." That I do not ask for ; but 
it seems to me that a doubt may be permitted, in a matter where 
delusion comes in so easily, and has already occurred so often, 
and in a sphere where the usual tests cannot be applied. " You 
say well, and are right ; Ah, I often forget that you are in a very 
different state from myself ; but as I am so intimately united 
with you, every doubt, even when it is a natural one, hurts me. 
But I cannot help you ; Albert could give you proofs ; but he is 
not permitted ; Oh, believe rather, believe, I beseech you." If 
the appearance of the person mentioned by you is real, you can 
give me perhaps, information of other persons deceased, who 
have been dear to me and mine 1 " I will ask my Albert." (Af- 
ter a pause :) " My Albertsays that he will gladly communicate 
to you what he can and may. Ask then without hesitation." 
Is the abode and state of my deceased wife known to your Al- 
bert 1 M He says, that he saw her three years since for the first 
time, and recognized her as your wife, that she is in a place 
where it goes well with her ; but that he does not know whether 
she is there still." Where is this place? "Albert does not 
wish you to ask further on this point ; he wishes you to be satis- 
fied with the assurance that it goes very well with her, that she 
is happy." Can Albert communicate to me any thing respect- 
ing the late Professor A 1 ] (Cordially.) Oh, he, Albert 

says, is in a happy, very happy place. Oh, it must be beautiful 
there, as I see in Albert. I should be glad to go there also. 
My Albert is looking thither, but I do not dare let my gaze 
penetrate into it. Albert is not yet at that high degree of hap- 
piness which this pious and good spirit has attained. He, too, 
was, though for a short time, in a lower place of preparation, be- 
fore he came where he is now." Can Albert tell me something 
of my father also 1 <{ Oh, how Albert is rejoiced at this ques- 
tion ! He loves him much, and knows him well. In this world 
he was a very good man, and he is correspondingly happy in the 
other. Albert says, that he often thinks of you and of his friends 
on the earth, with deep love. Yourself in particular he loves 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 169 

heartily, and has done much for you."* Was Albert acquainted 
with my father in Tubingen? " No, in Balingen ; there he 
saw you also, when a child, frequently, and loved you. (A 
pause.) Your father, Albert says to me, has a noble employ- 
ment where he is. He was engaged almost his life long on 
earth in teaching ; there he has received a similar one, but 
much higher." I had a brother G. ; where is he, and how is it 
with him ? " Albert does not name to you his abode ; he says, 
however, that he has become very amiable, that he has seen 
him several times, and that his lot is a happy one ; that he 
thinks much about his friends on earth, especially about his 
mother, and strives earnestly to improve his moral state." C. 
bids me ask, how it comes that he dreams so much of his bro- 
ther G., and that his dreams always present him with scenes 
from their youthful years 1 " Because G. was brought up with 
him, and the dreams of man very often select the period of 
youth for their theatre. C. never saw his brother otherwise 
than as he was here below, never as he is now. Still, G. often 
thinks of him ; but your father yet oftener of you. Oh, he loves 
you still, Albert says, very dearly, Ah, I should greatly like to 
see your father, as Albert sees him now, and can see him when- 
ever he pleases ; but I dare not. (R. gave an account of va- 
rious relations and acquaintances departed, which, however, 
cannot be inserted here.) But now I must rest for twenty-eight 
minutes." Have my questions exhausted you] "No; but it 
is well for me now to be alone with Albert. I should always 
say it immediately, if conversing or answering were not good 
for me. (After resting for half an hour, she laid her hand on my 
stomach, and said :) See, Albert, my benefactor's stomach is 
still suffering ; help him, I beseech you. (A pause.) Albert 
says I must pray for you ; that, without the power and will of 
the Most High, nothing can be done for you. (She prays :) Mer- 
ciful, faithful God and Father ! Thou knowest my request ere 
I bring it before Thee ; my trust is in Thy aid. Remove this pain 



* Nothing is more delightful to the angels than to instruct and teach 
spirits at their first coming from the world, and also to serve mankind, by 
inspiring them with what is good, and by restraining the evil spirits at- 
tendant on them from passing their proper bounds.— A. C. 454. 

8 



170 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

from him, O God, if it be Thy holy will. Restore his health to 
him again. Requite to him thereby the benevolence which he 
has shown to me in so many ways. Lord, Lord, hear me. 
Amen. (A pause.) O Albert, you are a purer spirit, you are 
much better than I am ; do you also pray for him. Ah, see, he 
is doing so ; he prays for you. You should see this sight, how 
bright his form appears in prayer ; how holy his essence is, how 
childlike, how trustful in God, and pure ! Ah, what am I ! 
(She weeps ; after a pause :) He rises, turns to me and says : 
I am permitted to give him peculiar power through you." (She 
again raises her right hand with the first three fingers, while 
she lays the left on my stomach. There follow now, at inter- 
vals of about fifteen seconds, seven very strong jerkings and 
agitations of the whole body, but especially of the upper part, 
of the right hand first, then of the breast, and lastly of the left. 
For several hours I had suffered sickness and oppression of the 
stomach; after what has just been related, I felt myself newly 
strengthened; a peculiar warmth pervaded my whole system, 
and I felt from that hour no further inconvenience.) " Do you 
feel nothing peculiar in your body V 9 O yes, a great and very 
comfortable change. Express to Albert my most heartfelt 
thanks. " He smiles in a loving manner upon you, and says, 
that he will do for you what he can and may ; he also bids you 
hope that you will become once more entirely healthy ; but says 
it is indispensably necessary for this, that you should continue 
your present manner of living for years, and never forget prayer 
to God. Oh, apply to Him in frequent and earnest prayer, and 
then His blessing cannot fail to come." Are not particular ex- 
ternal remedies still necessary for the restoration of my stomach 1 
<c I see your stomach, at this moment, all illuminated ; matters 
can go on very well, if you adhere strictly to your rules. The 
nerves of the stomach, and many of those connected with it in 
the abdomen, have indeed been unstrung and weakened by the 
long continued cramps; but things will go on well ; only have 
patience, and be constant. At present, particular remedies are 
not necessary; you are in the hands of an excellent physician ; 
my Albert has known him long ; follow his advice. When your 
stomach becomes acid, but only then, take a tea-spoonful of 
burnt magnesia. The quassia drops also will now be of service 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 171 

to you again ; they increase the activity of your stomach. Be- 
sides this, there is nothing particular to be observed. Only do 
not neglect daily exercise, and repair as soon as possible to the 
Dizenbach Spring. The use of these waters is highly benefi- 
cial to you. (Thus far, after the communication of strength 
mentioned above, R. had kept her hand on my stomach ; all at 
once she started with a pretty sudden movement and the words :) 
I must continue this no longer, Albert 1 I must lay on my right 
hand, too ] So ? Ah ! — Both farther up ? and crossed 1 Now 
it is right. (A pause.) I feel again exactly as if my left hand 
were glued to your stomach ; exactly as when a glass appears 
to be stuck to a smooth, wet surface. (She smiles.) It is a 
singular power — this magnetic force. (After a little, she at- 
tempted to remove her hand, but without success. She said 
she experienced a pain in her arm when she attempted to re- 
move it forcibly. Only after a quarter of an hour she suc- 
ceeded in it gradually, and for some time afterwards she com- 
plained of numbness in her left hand, which, however, disappeared 
before waking. She rested now quietly for more than fifteen 
minutes, then raised herself up, with the whole upper part of 
her person free, and her head elevated, as if listening, and said :) 
I hear delightful harmonies ; ah ! ah ! what tones ! they are 
not of earth !" What do you hear? Every thing about is still. 
" I hear a glorious song from many happy inhabitants of Venus, 
who, as Albert says, are not very far from me, but whom I cannot 
now see." Why not? "Such is Albert's will ; I am here, he 
says, to recover my health, not to see strange things ; and that 
rest of soul, just at this time, is of peculiar benefit to my body. 
But still I see something singular.' , What is it you mean 1 
i: I see again, inscribed on high in a golden bow :* " Thank ye 
the Lord ; Father is His name."f Are the characters that 
you see such, again, as are unintelligible to us men? M Yes, 
they are short but comprehensive signs, which the departed 



* In the spiritual world there appear rainbows of many kinds, some of 
various colors, as upon earth, and some of one color only ; here (Rev. iv.3) 
of one color only, because it is said, like unto an emerald. This appearance 
was round about the Lord, because it is said round about the throne ; 
round about him is also in the Heaven of angels. — A. R. 232. 

t Throughout all heaven they know no other Father than the Lord, 
(Jesus Christ.)—^. C. 15, 



172 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

understand immediately.* I recognize their meaning in my 
Albert." Do you also understand the words of the song 1 ? 
" Yes, I perceive that the song has for its subject the praise of 
the Highest, and gratitude to Him. There are not words there, 
as on earth ; as one character signifies many thoughts, so one 
tone, many feelings.f I cannot explain it to you." Is there 
not, however, a speech in the other world! " Yes, but the com- 
munication of souls among themselves cannot be explained to 
natural men.J And yet there are in this world word-forms which 
we could copy on earth, though indeed very scantily and imper- 
fectly, if they were known to us. ,J § Can you name or imitate 
for us such a word, or such a character, so that it shall fall into 
our senses 1 "I see, at this moment, several of them in my 
Albert, who takes pleasure in showing and explaining them to 
me ; but as for imitating them, it would cost me, much as it may 
surprise you, extreme and hurtful efforts. Consequently, I dare 
not attempt it." Do you know the meaning of the word " opti- 
nipoga"! (She reflects.) " Yes, this word has a meaning in 
the other world; it means : " I find rest with thee," or : "Thou 
afFordest me solace." Is this word known to you from the Seer- 
ess of Prevorst ] " You know I have never read that book. If 
that Seeress has assigned another meaning to this word, you are 
to reflect, that she was in a far higher magnetic state than myself. 
She was often in higher spheres than I am, and, consequently, 
there might be some diversity. (Suddenly checking herself:) 
No ; my Albert smiles, and I see in him that the language of 
spirits is every where the same ; || I am sure that the Seeress 



* Every man comes into this language after death, for it is implanted in 
him from creation. — T. C. R. 19. 

t There is an affection of spiritual love, which is sung every morning, 
that is, is sounded by modifications or modulations of a musical voice, and 
that affection is perceived in the singing as if it were itself: it flows into 
the souls of the hearers, and excites them to a correspondence. Such is 
heavenly singing. — T. C. R. 745. 

X The angels spoke concerning these things spiritually, and spiritual 
speech embraces thousands of things which natural speech cannot ex- 
press; and, what is wonderful, which cannot even fall into the ideas of 
natural thought.— T. C. R. 386. 

v> This writing, which is made by types of a heavenly form, is in use in 
the inmost Heaven, where they excel all others in wisdom. But in the 
inferior heavens there are not such writings ; the writings in these heavens 
are similar to writings in the world, in similar letters, but still not intelligi- 
ble to man, because they are in angelic language. — H. fy H. 261. 

II All in the universal heaven have one language, an(J they all under- 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 173 

has not spoken otherwise than I have." Do not be uneasy ; the 
difference is not such a serious one. The Seeress said the word 
meant : " Thou must sleep" ; and gave it as a means of quieting 
and putting her to sleep. Meanwhile, it must be said, there are 
already three meanings, and even three different sentences, 
which the word will have to signify, " That is the case, also, 
in the speech of men on earth ; only with this difference, that 
the soul gifted with clear sight, when set at liberty, needs fewer 
words and signs to understand and to be understood. One sign 
stands for a dozen words of human speech,* and the power of 
souls to look through each other, to read each other's interiors 
and to recognize immediately the internal will and endeavor, 
which are spontaneously expressed by natural characters in 
every soul, comes in place of the diffuse communications of men, 
who can make themselves mutually understood only by external, 
often fallacious forms. (A pause.) Albert, my Albert, whither 
are you hurrying ? Ah, he means to fetch the flower. (After 
a few seconds :) There it is ; he has brought it for me. Ah, see 
the cup ! what splendor I It is indescribably beautiful !" Do not 
forget the main point : How many leaves has it still) " Thank 
God ! only five ; eight more are withered. There is something 
peculiar about this flower ; I cannot rightly understand its nature ; 
it is no bare symbol, and yet it is a symbol ; it is nothing al- 
together material, and yet it is not entirely supersensual. (A 
pause.) I begged Albert to explain it to me ; but he says that 
I cannot comprehend it." How often will Albert visit you 
yet 7 " Only a few times more, with the special purpose of 
bringing my disease to a conclusion ; still I shall still see him 
occasionally hereafter for a short time. In the visit of my Al- 
bert preceding the last the flower will appear in all its glory ; 
the leaves then will be all gone, and the last time. Alas, then 
he takes leave of me. (She weeps.) I shall not become quite 
healthy for some time, even when Albert visits me no longer. 
My present disease will then indeed be removed so that Al- 



stand each other, from whatever society they are, whether near or distant. 
—If. $ H. 236. 

* This waiting also involves in a few words more than a man can 
describe by several pages. — H. # H. 261. 



174 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

bert's appearance will be no longer necessary ; and your in- 
fluence will cease ; but I shall still remain somewhat excitable 
in my system for a long time. I shall have to guard carefully 
my breast and abdomen." You coughed up some blood lately, 
how is it with that affection ? " It calls for no remedies. It 
was partly the consequence of the cramps in my breast, and 
partly from obstructions. It will disappear of its own accord 
with my present disease." You asked me to remind you, when 
Albert should be here again, of that " evil voice" of which you 
spoke a few days ago. "|Yes, that is true." (A pause, during 
which she turns herself to Albert.) " Albert says, that every 
man has not only his own guardian spirit at his side, but an 
evil being also.* I do not see this spirit, thank God : but I 
heard his voice distinctly in that half waking state." You 
heard his voice? How is that possible 1 "It is the fact, do 
not be surprised. It is indeed no voice whose sound conies 
through the air and is heard by the ear ; but, in a way which 
I cannot explain, I hear something from without that I can 
compare only to a soft, insinuating voice, f Albert says, that 
this comes from that evil being. When he sees that there is a 
ground for self-justification ever so slight, of which self-love 
can avail itself, he seizes it quickly, and lays it right temptingly 
before my soul for its choice. It becomes then very difficult 
for me to follow the better voice, also perceptible, because the 
other course seems to give me the advantage. Yes indeed — 
seems: O Albert, destroy him !" Oh, not so rash and violent ! 
" You are right. He too can still turn to what is good ; but 
he has deeply excited me." I am almost tempted to think, that 
with your two attendant beings you have expressed, in a figure, 
the two main tendencies of the human spirit, its perpetual 
wavering between good and evil, its double life for God and the 
world, for heaven and earth, and that too in a way that might 



* There are with every man at least two evil spirits and two angels.-— 
A. C. 697. 

t Hence it is evident, that the speech of an angel or spirit with man is 
heard in man, and because it equally moves the organs of hearing, that it 
is also equally sonorous. That the speech of an angel and of a spirit flows 
down even into the ear from within, was evident to me from this.— 
H. $ H. 248. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 175 

be dangerous to morality. Is not the human heart by nature 
filled with a prevailing bias to the sensual 1 And is not the 
human spirit indebted, on the other hand, to its divine deriva- 
tion for that attraction towards the alone True and Good, which 
it received as an endowment when it came forth from God, and 
which we call conscience 1 For what end, then, any external, 
supersensual representatives of that which already lies suffi- 
ciently in our sensual and spiritual nature ? Is it not plain, 
how dangerously the supposition of such spiritual guides and 
especially tempters may work on the morals of men — to say 
nothing about the point, that such influences must make our 
moral freedom very doubtful ? " In this, my Albert says, you are 
altogether wrong. I have already told you, that the choice both to 
will and to act is always left to the freedom of man. Supposing 
you have rightly represented the human heart and the protection 
of conscience, yet the equilibrium* in the interior of the soul is 
not impaired, if there accedes a prop to the conscience, and an 
alluring voice to the weakness of the heart. Never can the 
latter become audible, without the good spirit showing himself 
active on his side, and the greater the temptation, so much the 
stronger the exhortation and prompting to its opposite.f But in 
this struggle the choice i3 always left free. The human soul, 
oh, believe it I pray you, is by no means a prey to evil, if it will 
only learn to will what is good ; no where is there less a being 
yielded up at random than I in the world of spirits. All here is 
high, divine plan.f. (A pause.) And then I ask you : do you 
then know so certainly that such an ordination of God was un- 
necessary."{ No ; still it is, after all surprising, that two higher 



* To the intent that man may be in freedom, with a view to his being 
reformed, he is conjoined as to his spirit, with heaven and with hell. For 
there are with every man spirits from hell, and angels from heaven : by 
spirits from hell man is in his own evil ; but by angels from heaven man 
is in good from the Lord ; thus he is in spiritual equilibrium, that is, in 
freedom.— H. # H. 599. 

t Temptations appertaining to man, are spiritual combats between evil 
and good spirits. — A. C. 8131. 

$ Unless the Lord ruled both the heavens and the hells, there would 
not be any equilibrium, and if no equilibrium, there would not be a heaven 
and a hell ; for all and single things in the universe, that is, both in the 
natural world and in the spiritual world, derive consistence from equili- 
brium.— H. if H. 592. • . 

§ That man is governed of the Lord, by spirits, is because he is not in 



176 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

beings should have to be perpetually occupied with a man, in 
the manner you mentioned. "Surprising! that is deciding 
very hastily. Do you not then consider, that an infinite deal 
depends on every human soul, and that as well the guardian 
spirits as the evil ones, are working, while thus employed, towards 
their future destination, and that the destinies of three human 
souls are here concerned, and not merely those of one 1 Such 
at least is God's will and plan — let us not seek to add to or di- 
minish from it." (A pause.) Have you yet seen, with the eye 
of your soul, a less good, or an evil spirit, in what you call the 
middle kingdom 1 " No, hitherto Albert has carried me through 
the atmosphere of the earth, without my being obliged to see 
such a spirit. Albert guarded me against it. In the atmosphere 
of the earth there are departed spirits in multitudes and of every 
kind. (A pause.) But now cease from questions. Albert 
says that he must leave me, and I must return to the earth. 
Alas I why may I not stay here ! (She is agitated for a few 
minutes over her whole system.) Here I am again in Schwaik- 
heim. My Albert leaves me at this moment ; already I see him 
beaming in the remote distance.* Farewell, my true attendant f> 
(An interval of silence.) Will you wake up to-day of your own 
accord 1 " No, by your will ; you must blow into my face." 
Now I "I will tell you when it is time." When will the next 
crisis occur 1 " Next Thursday — in the mean time there will 
occur some half waking states, on Sunday and Tuesday. (A 



the order of heaven, for he is born into the evils which are of hell, thus alto- 
gether contrary to divine order; wherefore he is to be reduced into order, 
and he cannot be so reduced, except mediately by spirits. — H. ty H. 296. 

That spirits, who communicate with hell, are also adjoined to man, is 
because man is born into evils of every kind, and thence his first life is only 
from them; wherefore, unless there were adjoined to man spirits, such as 
he is, he could not live, yea, neither could he be withdrawn from his evils 
and be reformed. Wherefore he is held in his own life by evil spirits, 
and is withheld from it by good spirits ; by both also he is in equilibrium ; 
and because he is in equilibrium, he is in freedom, and can be withdrawn 
from evils, and inclined to good, and also good can be implanted in him, 
which could by no means be done unless he were in freedom ; nor can 
freedom be given him unless spirits from hell act on one side and spirits 
from heaven on the other, and man be in the midst. — H. <$• H. 293. 

* Thence is the genuine affection of truth, which is an affection of truth 
for the sake of truth. Those who are in this affection, or, what is the same 
thing, who are in this love, are in heavenly intelligence, and shine in hea- 
ven as with the splendor of the expanse. They shine thus, because divine 
truth, wheresoever it is in heaven, gives light.— if. fy H. 347. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 177 

pause.) You may venture to preach ; it will fatigue you some- 
what, but Albert will attend you, and give you strength, as I 
saw in him when he left me. (A pause.) Now wake me up." I 
blew into her face ; she started, but did not wake. I blew on 
her forehead with the same result. (She smiled and said :) 
" Here it is not as in the half-waking state : you must begin to 
blow on the lower part of the face, and, slowly carry it upwards 
over the forehead, firmly willing me to awake." (I did so and 
all at once the usual cramps came on, after which she awoke 
quite cheerful, at half-past ten o'clock.) 

June 22d. 

At seven in the evening, R. was attacked with a trembling 
over the whole body, which had some likeness to the phenomena 
of an ague fit, and lasted a short quarter of an hour, during 
which she retained her consciousness perfectly. This was suc- 
ceeded by a strong and general jerking of the entire system, 
and by violent stretching and twisting of the arms and legs ; 
after which she closed her eyes, and only made some very 
rapid motions with the lower jaw. At last the mouth 
closed convulsively, and it was plain that a general 
rigidity had come on, in which, as I did not dare to apply 
magnetic passes, and laying my hand on her was of no 
avail, I was obliged to leave R. to herself. This state continued 
for two hours, after which, the limbs regained by degrees the 
power of motion, and the lower jaw at last began to move. 
She awoke, without having spoken a word, after a slight trem- 
bling of the body, and felt comfortably. 

June 2&th. 

An attack altogether like the preceding, took place in the 
evening at four o'clock. Just before waking R. recovered her 
speech, and said : " To-day I lay for three hours without being 
able to stir ; but it was my own fault." How so ? "Half the 
time would have produced the same effect if I had not eaten to- 
day too many meat-balls." Yes, that is the dish of your palate. 
(Leibessen— Body -food.) " Dish of my palate ! (Smiling some- 






178 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

what scornfully.) What kind of an expression is that, I pray 1 Then 
the soul too has such a dish." Tell me such an one. " I mean 
the gratification of any favorite desire ;* you understand me." 
What is the reason that you bled at the nose yesterday and to- 
day ? " From severe head-ache ; but it will do me no harm. I 
shall still think, when I wake up, that it will be good for me to 
be bled ; but persuade me out of that idea ; it is not good." How 
is it with my stomach ? "I scarcely feel my hand attracted to 
it more strongly than to any other part of your body. You may 
now venture to drink beer again ; only not more than one large 
glass." R. observed further before she woke, that, to-day, for 
the first time, she could distinguish the various objects in the 
chamber through the right eye. In looking further, as through 
the window, things were still covered to her as with a mist. 

June 26th. 

At half past six in the evening there came on general sick- 
ness ; a disposition to vomit alternated with a slight, dry, short 
cough until, at seven o'clock, the usual cramps made their ap- 
pearance, which continued till a quarter to eight with a violence 
hitherto unknown. The oppressions were often so strong and 
lasting, that I seriously apprehended suffocation more than once. 
The convulsions, which cast the body from one side to the other 
and upwards, could not be looked at without pity. I could do 
nothing to relieve her. About eight there came quiet and sleep. 
After a few minutes, during which a lovely color had gradually 
returned to the cheeks, and cheerfulness to the features, she be- 
gan to speak of her own accord : — " O my Albert ! you are here ! 
Thank God ! you are here ! O you have left me to go through 
a hard struggle. But what are these struggles compared with 
one single look upwards to you, in comparison with the happiness 
which I experience in your society ! My sensations now are 
all of delight. So a departed one may feel when he has cast off 
the painful wrapping of the flesh. Such a struggle is indeed 



* No scientific and rational which man acquires, from infancy to old 
age, is ever insinuated into him except by what is good and delightsome ; 
which things are therefore called meats, and are meats, because his soul 
lives and is supported by them. — A. C. f>78. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 179 

hard ; it is a kind of dying." Whence did this hard struggle pro- 
ceed ? " Now that my restoration is at hand, it is far more diffi- 
cult than before for my spirit to leave its dwelling. The bands 
which confine it to the body are already strengthened, (A 
pause.) O Albert, if you had rather chosen to let me die fully, 
and taken me to be where you are, how gladly would I have gone 
with you ! But it was not so determined in the counsels of the 
Most High. I am to wrestle yet longer in the arena, and I thank 
Thee for it, Father ; Thou only desirest that I should be im- 
proved by trial. (A pause.) 

Blest is the man who dwells in God's protection, 
And walks beneath His wings' eternal shadow ! 

(A pause. She prays in silence ; her lips move ; at length 
she speaks aloud :) 

Whene'er I seek Thee, Lord, in care and trouble, 

Thou art as on some rock a lofty tower ; 

Thy love paternal is my sword and buckler, 

And Thy strong arm will guard me from all mischief. 

Thou givest charge to all Thy holy angels, 

In all my ways to bear me up from stumbling. 

(A pause.) 

Oh, if Thy holy name I do but honor, 
And seek, before all other things, Thy kingdom, 
Thou graciously wilt hear my supplication, 
And rescue me from ev'ry fear and trouble. 
Beneath Thy wings of love, O Father, sheltered, 
I need not fear for coming ill and sorrow ; 
But in those evil days walk fearlessly, 
When dire disease invades my feeble body. 
Thou, when this earthly pilgrimage is over, 
Wilt take me to the happiness of Heaven. 

(A pause.) 

To Thee, O Loving Father, I bring worship ; 

To Thee, my heart's best thanks, O my Redeemer; 

To Thee, all praise and honor, Holy Spirit. 

(A pause.) 

All thanks to Thee, for ever Merciful ! 
For that in Thee my trust as rocks is steadfast. 
Let Thy most holy will be done henceforth; 
Whate'er it be, with holy faith I yield me. 

(A pause of several minutes.) 



180 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

Ah ! — Ah ! — the friends of my Albert, the noble spirits ; they 
are coming here ; they bring the flower. (She speaks low — 
then aloud :) 

How happy thus to raise 

My voice for God's high praise, 

Among the choirs of angels bright ! 

(She prays in silence, and then proceeds aloud:) 

Who may taste this pleasure ? 
The pure, who count their treasure 

All that's pleasing in God's sight 
Like angels make me holy, 
O Lord, as one so lowly, 

Can be made below. 
Then, in sinless glory, 
I'll bow with them before Thee, 

And Thy eternal praises show. 

(A pause.) 

Did you know these lines before 1 " Yes, I got them by 
heart when a child. The unrhymed ones also I have frequently 
read in my earlier years. Albert, beloved Albert ! hearty 
thanks to you too ! Oh, that I could give you more ! You are 
my guardian spirit, and with my thanks I will join the entreaty ; 
Let me never fall ! Guard me, lead me, whither it pleases thee 
and the Most High. If I am in forbidden paths, and will not 
hear thy loved voice, then resort to harder measures, lead me 
back to the right way by suffering, if it cannot be done by 
gentler means. Oh, help me, that hereafter I may attain the 
happiness in which you, my Albert, are living. (A pause.) 
How glorious is the flower ! There it stands in its highest 
splendor! Oh, if you could only see it ! Joy beams from Al- 
bert's face,* that it now appears in all its glory. All its leaves 
are withered ; supported on its vigorous stem its cup is all 
resplendent with purple hues, and all embroidered with golden 
rays. Oh, how beautiful ! How glorious ! (A pause.) How 
beautiful, Albert, you are to-day ! You appear in your most 



* The form of charity which is seen to the life in heaven, is such, 
that charity itself is what effigies and is effigied; and this in such a 
manner that the whole angel, especially the face, is as it were charity. — 
H $ H. 414. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 181 

glorious splendor.* O Albert, who would not gladly endure 
every thing, when beckoned to such a goal as you have reached ! 
Yes, joyfully henceforth I will bear all the burdens which the 
Lord lays upon me, that I may one day be with you. (To me.) 
To-day my Albert has a palm wreath on his head. He is 
clothed in the fairest garb of Heaven.f He celebrates a festi- 
val to-day J— that of my recovery.. Oh, there the sufferings of 
others are more regarded than they are in this world. ,, (I had 
taken up by accident a mouth-harmonica, which she imme- 
diately observed. She asked me to play on it, and I did so. 
Scarcely did she hear the first sound when she began to sing. 
Her voice was exceedingly pure and melodious, and with ad- 
mirable skill she passed from one chord to another as I chose 
them. Frequently she invented transitions quite unexpected, 
and yet exceedingly beautiful and harmonious. Her song 
retained a delightful unity, whatever chords I might blow, and 
yet it was only an accompaniment to the simple, fundamental 
notes of the harmonica. When I was somewhat tired of 
blowing I stopped, and her singing ceased at the same time. 
But soon she requested me :) " Let me sing yet more. (I 
blew, and she sang — now adding words to the notes as fol- 
lows :) 

Holy, holy art Thou, Lord ; 

The heavens above declare Thy power 

And extol Thy majesty. 

Praise to Thee, Father, Son and Spirit ! 

For evermore ! 

(She requested me twice afterwards, in this crisis, to let her 
sing again, and adapted words, on these occasions also, to her 
singing ; but I did not understand them, as the sound of the 
harmonica was too close to my ear. The lines inserted above 



* The angels are not constantly in the same state as to love, and thence 
neither in the same as to wisdom. When they are in the greatest degree 
of love, then ihey are in the light and heat of their life, or in their clear 
and delightful state.— if. # H. 155. 

f They (the angels) said also that their garments are changed according 
to the changes of their state, and that in the first and second state, they 
have shining and bright garments, in the third and fourth a little more 
obscure.— H. $ H. 181. 

I There are here (in heaven) days of festivity. 



182 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

she sang so distinctly that I understood them. On my request- 
ing her subsequently to repeat the verses, as I had not under- 
stood them, she replied :) I was elevated by this music to a 
higher magnetic state. It lasted, however, no longer than the 
music itself. I do not myself remember any longer the words 
I then made use of. I have descended again, and Albert keeps 
silence and will not tell me the words." Why not ? "I must 
not pass into that higher state again at present ; but if I should 
hear the words T should immediately be thrown into it again, 
and that would not be of service to me to-day." I think it 
further worthy of notice, that R., when I laid the harmonica, 
which had several accords, upon her forehead, began forthwith 
to sing in the same manner, and, as I satisfied myself by several 
trials, sang always in the key which was the fundamental note 
of the chord which came in contact with her forehead. When 
I placed the harmonica so that her forehead was touched 
by two chords at once, she passed alternately from the one 
to the other in her singing, without striking into a third, f 
requested my brother C. to blow the harmonica ; he did so 
within our magnetic atmosphere, and she replied to the ques- 
tion :) What do you hear? "A sound similar to that pro- 
duced by rubbing a glass. It comes from C. I hear it through 
you. (A pause.) Let me, I pray you, examine your stomach. 
(She lays her left hand there.) Things are very well there. 
Albert says, that a happy change has taken place in your 
system, for which a preparation had been going on for several 
weeks, and which was brought to effect by his operation upon 
you on Saturday last. From this cause proceeds your want of 
appetite for some time. You will soon be well again. I shall 
not be so happy. I shall indeed soon be free from the cramps, 
but I shall not immediately regain perfect health ; my breast 
will suffer long; especially will I need to be on my guard 
against an inflammation of the lungs. After this disease, which 
is now near its termination, I ought, as is necessary after every 
disease at all serious, to spare myself for some weeks. But 
this, I foresee, my circumstances will not permit. (A pause.) 
In eight days from this time my Albert will visit me again ; 
and then you can undertake the journey you intend. The 
springs will be of great benefit to your health. The waters in 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 183 

Dizenbach are well adapted to your case." Will not preach- 
ing next Sunday be injurious to me! (To Albert.) " Do you 
attend him again, my Albert ; he wishes it so earnestly : do 
you give him strength ! Oh, it is a noble calling which you have ; 
he that fulfils it truly will not be without a blessing. (A 
pause.) Yes, my Albert will be near you on Sunday ; you 
will not be overdone." (My son-in-law B., who happened to 
be present, inquired through me ;) How are things in R. ? 
" L. (his wife) has some head-ache from the heat ; but it is of 
no importance. She is expecting you every day." Can you 
tell B. any thing about his late father ? " My Albert knows 
nothing about him. I would gladly have done a pleasure to 
kind B. by intelligence on which he would have set so much 
value ; but Albert knows nothing in this case, he does not 
know every thing. At this moment he is looking at you, B.* 
(To Albert.) Yes, my Albert, he is good and honest, and 
upright of heart. This you know well, my guardian. (To 
me.) Now he is standing quite near to you again, my Albert ; 
see, quite close to you." You know that I cannot see it. " Ah, 
how sorry I am that you cannot." Does Albert see my sisters 
also, here present/? Ci Yes, through you and me ;f but he is 
now entirely taken up with you. He is observing your soul." 
Have departed spirits of another and lower kind the same 
power? " No, only when ways are opened to them by some 
morbid state of the system in certain persons, as in my own 
case.J My Albert has hitherto guarded me against this. It is 



* Wives have in this manner (through my eyes) seen their husbands 
and children, and have wished me to tell them that they were present and 
looking on them, and that I would mention the particulars of their state 
in the other life ; but this, I said, was not allowed, by reason that they 
would have called me mad, or would have pronounced my information to 
be all a delirium of the imagination, inasmuch as I was well aware, that 
although they gave assent with their lips to the doctrine of the existence 
of spirits, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of their being amongst 
spirits, and that spirits can see and hear by means of man, yet they did 
not believe these things in their hearts. — E. U< 135. 

t It has been given them (spirits and angels) to see through my eyes the 
things of this world, and as plainly as I myself did. — E. U, 135. 

% But it is not permitted them (the infernals) to flow in even into the 
solid parts of the body, or into the parts which constitute the viscera, the 
organs and members of man, but only into the lusts and falsities ; only 
when man falls into disease, they then flow into such unclean things as 
appertain to the disease. — A> C 5713. 



184 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

almost as much a matter of horror to departed spirits to ap- 
proach men, as for men to come in contact with departed souls. 
Souls quite earthly-minded strive towards earth, indeed, but 
then it is the worst torment to them that sensible things are no 
longer to them what they were formerly. Their state is a 
wretched u one from these double tendencies. (A pause.) I 
beg you to let me sing a little more." Can you not do so of 
yourself? "No, without something proceeding from yourself, 
such as music, to raise me, I cannot bring it about." (I blew 
on the harmonica and she sang :) 

" Thou, Who of all the Father art, 
In earth as well as Heaven, 
To Thy great name, in ev'ry part, 
Shall endless praise be given. 
Thy kingdom, long before prepar'd 
A glorious habitation, 
Come soon, and, after death, be heir'd 
By all with its salvation. 

I shall awake now soon. My return will be easy and 
without pain." Will the next attack be introduced by 
cramps as violent as these were? "I fear they will be 
still more violent. If I am attacked then with weakness, as I 
have been to-day, you need only rub my temples with Cologne 
water and hold something pungent, it matters not what, under 
my nose. Give me after the sleep to-day a cup of Malaga wine. 
Hereafter I need not be so careful in my eating. Only, what is 
very indigestible I must avoid for a long time. (A pause.) 
When my Albert visits me again, he will leave me for some time 
in the midst of the crisis, in order that I may accustom myself 
by degrees to his absence. In the interval I shall several times 
fall into a cataleptic state, which will be of service to me. Let 
nothing then be done for me. At the end of these interval at- 
tacks I shall fall into the usual half-sleep, and be able to con- 
verse with you." Will not Amandus also come again 1 " Yes, 
he will come once more to take leave of me. Albert now takes 
his departure." (She looks after him a long time.) Are you 
still out of the body 1 " Yes, my spirit is ; the operation of my 
soul does not remit, after the separation of my spirit, in the body, 
otherwise it would be dead. Now wake me up. (I blew over 
her face, without willing her to wake up. She started without 
waking, and said:) Now will earnestly." (I did the like with a 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 185 

firm will, and, after a slight convulsive moment that scarcely- 
agitated her body, she was restored to waking life, having slept 
for three hours.) 

July 3d, 

According to R.'s prediction there occurred on the 27th and 
28th of June, as also on the first of July, attacks in all respects 
like those of the 22d and 24th of June. She did not speak at 
all in them, and always felt remakably better after them. 

The struggle which brought on the crisis of the 3d of July was 
yet more violent than that of the week before. There were, 
strictly, several attacks succeeding one another, attended by the 
most violent agitations and convulsions of the whole system, and 
so extreme, that if I had not used my utmost strength to hold 
her, the sufferer would more than once have been hurled from 
her bed to the floor. After each attack there succeeded great 
exhaustion, and a breathing which was very similar to the 
death-rattle and lasted each time some five or six minutes. In 
this state the mouth and eyes were half opened, and the features 
strikingly changed. The struggle lasted, in the whole, an hour. 
Sometimes we could hear, while it continued, the words, pro- 
nounced in a broken and very slow manner : " Help, Father in 
Heaven! Help Thy child !" Or: "I am so near to dying 
let me, O Merciful Father, pass hence entirely to Thee !" 
Or, "O Father, only some relief!" Cologne water rubbed 
on her temples, and held under her nose, strengthened 
her visibly. She also nodded her thanks when I mois- 
tened her lips with cold water. At length, about eight 
o'clock, a single slight agitation carried her entirely over into the 
land of her Albert. After resting a short time, she began to 
speak with folded hands and of her own accord ; — " Peace, yes, 
peace be with me ! O Albert ! are you here 1 Thanks to Thee, 
Heavenly Father ; Thou hast helped me to overcome in this 
dreadful struggle. O Lord, none is like unto Thee ; great is 
Thy name. Thine eyes did see my substance, being yet im- 
perfect. Thou hast prepared my members, concluded my life, 
and measured the number of my days in Thy wisdom. From 
my childhood I have been led by Thy Fatherly hand ; hitherto 
hast Thou led me, and still Thou art leading me with love and 



186 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

truth. Who can reckon up all the proofs of love which Thy 
Fatherly kindness has shown me, far outnumbering the sands 
that lie by the sea-shore 1 (A pause.) It was Thou, O Father, 
who sentest Albert to me, and Thy goodness it-was that in 
every stage of my disease provided me a helper. How merci- 
fully dost thou deal with Thy child ! 

How could that dreadful thought e'er take me, 

That tortures feeble souls with fear, 
That Thou, O Lord, could'st quite forsake me, 

A God that numberest every hair, 

A Father of such tender care, 

It feeds the fowls that wing the air ; 
All- Wise, Thou see'st my every want, 
All-Good, Thou giv'st me without scant. 

But yet, how often have I forgotten Thee, my faithful God : 
Oh, how often have I not heard Thy call, how often in my folly 
taken the way of sin ! O God, still be gracious to me, and blot 
out my sin, in Thy mercy, through Jesus Christ ! (A pause.) 
She weeps ; then raises up her hands and utters the following : 

To know Thee, Lord, I was alas ! too blinded 
When Thou didst exercise me in Thy love, 
To go the ways of my own folly minded, 
I grieved Thy tender Spirit from above. 
Though I am evil in Thy sight, O Lord, 
Thou still Thy favor to me dost afford. 

Thou sentest Thy good angel down from Heaven, 
To show Thy self a gracious Father still, 
And fill me with the joy of sins forgiven, 
While bent on doing my perverted will. 
Thou seest my heart ; I give it thee anew, 
And vow it now to Thee for ever true. 

Oh, look upon my fervent heart's devotion, 
Regard me with Thine eye of heavenly grace ; 
The cross — which every troubled heart's emotion 
Can still — behold I make my hiding-place. 
Thou know'st my purpose as a rock is fast ; 
I know Thy love, that 'twill for ever last. 

My faithful guardian, thou perforce must leave me — 
When e'er I love the things I most should hate, 
When the vain flatteries of sense deceive me, 
Until my heart cleaves to this earthly state — 
Oh, let me know thou can'st not aid impart, 
When e'er I choose the ways of my own heart. 






HISTOKY OF THE CASE. 187 

Hear then, a promise of my heart's dictation : 
Virtue alone, henceforth, shall be my end ; 
And so, when sin allures me by temptation, 
Thou'lt be my monitor and my sure friend ; 
But in the strife should courage fail my heart, 
Be at my side, O Albert, then to take my part. 

(After thus pouring out her heart, R. lay quietly with her 
hands folded for nearly half an hour. To my question : where 
have you read these verses ] she replied. t{ I never read them ; 
I saw them just now for the first time in my interiors. Such a 
thing is easy in my situation. On this occasion it was my heart, 
yes, my heart that spoke. " But now she raises both her arms 
in the direction that she sees Albert in, and says :) " Oh Albert, 
Albert, could I, might I, follow you. But now you no longer 
show yourself so near, and I must even thank you that you are 
leaving me. What a joy is that of restoration to health ! 
What a pain, that of parting from you, my beloved guardian ! 
But so is it ever in human life ; pleasure and pain constantly 
united. Nothing here is perfect — yet one day, when my eye 
shall be closed, when once my spirit, led by its guardian, quits 
its tabernacle, yes, then it will be otherwise ; then there will 
be no pain, no suffering more. (A pause of some minutes, after 
which her face becomes overcast and she says :) To-morrow, 
before you set off to St M. R. will treat you very unhand- 
somely; keep yourself quiet then and do not be offended." 
Can I not avoid it 1 " No, though you are never so much on 
your guard. This is something you have to pass through. ,, 
How did you learn this? "Through my Albert." Will 
Albert leave you to day for ever] "No, he will visit 
me once more, but only to take leave of us. Alas ! this 
is too painful." When will he visit you for the last time ? 
" On the seventh of July, which is next Monday, at seven in the 
evening. But now I beg you to let me sing." Could you not 
listen in silence to the harmonica 1 " No, I must sing when you 
play on it. But when you cease, I suddenly descend from the 
higher state into which the lines had elevated me, and remem- 
ber no longer the words I have been singing. Still I remem- 
ber that I have been so employed. (I played, and she sang :) 

My trust is in Thy power, 
Thou art my God ; 
Lord, help me. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

On Thee I cast my cares all, 
Thou art my helper ; 
Lord, protect me. 

Thee I will follow, 
Thou art my Father ; 
Lord, conduct me ! 

(A pause.) 

This singing raises my whole nature to what is better and 
higher. It is as though it gave wings to my soul.* I pray 
you, let me sing more." (I played, and she sang :) 

" Lord, do Thou lead me ; 
Thou canst perform it, 
For Thy love knows of no limits ; 
Whene'er support is needful, 
Oh, then give it me. 
I see bitter pains in the future — 
Let Thy grace help me bear them. 
Thou brought'st me into the combat ; 
Comfort now, and help me conquer. 
Thy will be accomplished. 
My destiny is in Thy power, 
Lead me always after Thy good pleasure." 

This song also was very pure, and the voice peculiarly soft 
and gentle ; nor was it less skilful in its transitions, for which, 
as I chose the chords at my own pleasure, she could not be pre- 
pared. I had accidentally taken my snuffbox in my hand as I 
was about to lay it on her stomach, and unconsciously, while 
speaking with my sister, laid the hand in which I held it, for a 
few seconds, on her stomach. Suddenly she complained of a 
burning sensation in the stomach, and of stupefaction, and beg- 
ged me to remove the box ; when I did so, all unpleasant sensa- 
tions in the stomach ceased. I laid the box on her forehead. 
She wrinkled it up and said : " It seems as if every thing in 
my head was vacant and empty. This is the joint effect of the 
silver and the snuff." When held to her ears, the box drew from 



* Such is heavenly singing. The female singers say that the sound of 
their Hinging, as it were, inspires and animates itself from within, and 
delightfully exalts itself according to its reception by the hearers. — T. C. 
11. 745. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 189 

her the expression : " It sounds as if there were may-beetles in 
the box." Laid on her lips, it produced a pungent sensation 
"like Spanish pepper." She rubbed her mouth for a long time. 
If she took the box into her hand, the palm immediately began 
to perspire. For some time afterwards she scratched with the 
nails of the other, " because it bit so much." Shortly after 
this I was unexpectedly called upon to make a payment of some 
money ; on this occasion also her aversion to silver manifested 
itself very plainly. I made the payment only a step or two 
from her, and it affected her so much, that she was thrown into 
convulsions. Every piece as it fell on the table shocked 
her by its sound, and she begged earnestly that the 
thing might be terminated. To the question, whence this 
aversion just now, inasmuch as I had carried money in my 
pocket that day without its giving her any uneasiness, she 
said :) " When you touch the money and make it ring, and 
your soul is engaged with it, it hurts me all over my body ; it 
feels as if needles were stuck into me. (A pause.) Alas, my 
Albert now leaves me. But (joyfully) he will come back 
again ; farewell !" (She lies a long time silent and thoughtful ; 
at length she raises herself to a sitting posture, aversion and 
terror are expressed in her face, which she all at once turns 
aside, she slowly reclines backward while her arms are rigidly 
stretched forward, and only from time to time turns her face 
slowly to one corner of the room, looks for a moment at some- 
thing there, and then suddenly turns it away, her countenance 
betraying unusual fright and horror.) What ails you ] What 
are you about 7 " Oh God ! oh God ! (She seizes a pillow and 
buries her face in it. She looks up only at times, as if timidly 
and by stealth, and then says quite low :) For* Heaven's sake, 
was it necessary I should go through this also]" . Tell me, I 
beseech you, what is the matter with you ; you make me un- 
easy. (Suddenly she draws ray left hand convulsively towards 
her; the highest degree of fear expresses itself in her features; 
her whole body trembles violently and she cries or rather almost 
shrieks out :) M Good God, he is coming towards me, the mon- 
ster ; he will destroy me." But tell me, I entreat you — (She 
makes a motion to check me and says :) " Keep silence, for he 
hears you ; he hates both you and myself. " # You are dreaming ; 



190 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

be quiet and desist from such fancies. " Fancies ! would God 
they were such ! Alas no, I do not fancy it ; I am not out of 
my head ; what I see is a melancholy reality. But be silent 
for your own sake ; he hears all that you say through me." 
What should I be afraid of? Let any one who chooses hear 
what I say. But what is it then you see ? (She cries out 
aloud :) " O God, The Almighty, help ! Albert, help ! Al- 
bert ! Albert ! as you love me come and help me ! He is 
coming towards us. (She weeps, and moves from side to side 
in great terror. All at once she exclaims.) " God be praised ! 
you are here ! Oh, how I thank you ! (She looks timidly 
towards the place whence her fright had come, and says :) 
Thank God, he is gone." But who is it you have seen 1 " Oh, 
a horrible creature. Albert says, it was a monk belonging to 
a monastery in Switzerland, who died one hundred and seventy 
years ago. Oh, he is a frightful object. (She clenches both 
her hands ; her face expresses the highest disgust.) O thou 
abominable spirit ! What is it you wanted of me 1 You will 
dare to come near me? No, that would be frightful." How did 
he look in shape ? (She shudders all over.) " Frightful, wild, 
disgusting, revolting, dark ; all these together do not say 
enough."* But describe his appearance, if you please, more 
particularly. " It was the form of a man, dressed in a dirty 
countryman's frock,f not very tall. His face, like his whole 
figure, is dark gray, inclining to black ; it has no proper features 
but is all rough and rugged. ;f The eyes are like those of a 
bear.§ He appeared to be bent and grown together in a shock- 
ingly strange manner, a true monster ;|| he has crooked, club- 
feet, and a form crippled all over, with shockingly long fingers.1T 

* Those (evil spirits) who are corporeal loves appear gross, obscure, 
black and deformed.— H. $ II. 481. 

t Because every one in the spiritual world has garments according to 
intelligence, thus according to the truths from which intelligence is, there- 
fore those who are in the hells, since they are without truths, appear 
indeed clothed with garments, but ragged, squalid and filthy. — 
H. <$■ H. 182. 

\ in some they (the faces) are black, in some fiery like little torches, in 
some disfigured with pimples warts and ulcers. — II. fy H. 553. 

§ They who separate them (the natural and spiritual senses) appear 
also in the spiritual world like bears. — A. R. 47. 

|| Their bodies also are monstrous. — //. $ H. 553. 

IT Instead of feet he had long ankles without flesh. — T. C. R. 661. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 191 

Oh, he is an abominable creature. He is a right wicked being. 
God be thanked for the privilege of guardian spirits ! My 
Albert was able to hear my voice, and he drove him away with 
a strong rebuke." Do guardian spirits then hear our prayers 1 
" Certainly ; the prayers of those committed to their charge, 
they hear them all. (A pause.) But my Albert is to go away 
again ; he will only remain until I am somewhat more quieted." 
Does Albert say nothing respecting the life of the dark spirit ? 
u Ah, yes ; only think, this monster has murdered and buried 
five of his own children in the monastery. He was frequently 
in the neighborhood of Neufchatel, where he also com- 
mitted crimes of other kinds. God be gracious and merciful to 
him ; I cannot help him at all. He has indeed committed many 
shocking crimes; he is very wicked; he was a Jesuit too." 
But how does he come by a peasant's frock 1 " It was in this 
dress he fled from his monastery, when his crime was suspected 
and he was on the point of being seized. He then laid violent 
hands on himself. Albert says, he has been trying to approach 
me for some time." What is it he wishes, what would he have 1 
(She gives no answer, but turns her head slowly upward and to 
one side, as if looking after some one, and says ;) There goes 
Albert again ; but he will visit me once more to-day. (I repeat- 
ed my question, and she replied : (He wanders about unsteadily, 
full of unrest,* and seeks some alleviation of his dreadful state. 
He is looking out every where for gaps, through which he strives 
to come back to the life of earth. f In this way he found me 
through Albert. He knows well that he can get no help from 
me, and yet he came. There is a kind of desperation in him that 
makes him stupid. He knows that men cannot help him, and 
yet he seeks them, because he cannot and will not, as yet, seek 
aid from above. Albert said, however, that there yet lies a good 
germ concealed in his spirit." Why did he not come to you be- 



* The angels who are with man rule his rational, but the evil spirits 
who are with him rule his natural, and hence is combat. If the rational 
conquers, then man comes into the tranquillity of peace, and in another 
life, into the peace of heaven ; but if the natural conquers, then, during 
his life in the world, he appears as if he were in tranquillity, but in an- 
other life he comes into the restlessness and torment of hell. — A. C. 2183. 

t They who have been ensnared into adulteries, are, in another life, 
more than others desirous to obsess men, and thus bv them to return into 
the world.— A. C. 2752, 



192 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

fore 1 " He has been for some time near me without my know- 
ing it. Albert kept him off. This time he came without Albert's 
seeing it. Albert is not all-knowing." (Suddenly I heard a 
clashing noise on a small table near me, as if one dish had fallen 
pretty heavily on another. As the noise was heard so very close, 
I looked towards the table, on which I observed nothing but a 
few fragments of cloth cut a few hours before in fitting a gar- 
ment. As there was no object in the chamber, certainly 
no where near me, to produce such a sound as I had dis- 
tinctly heard, and besides myself and R., there was no per- 
son in the chamber, the sound struck me so much with sur- 
prise that I said :) What was that ? I heard something like 
the rattling of dishes. " That was from him ; he is again about 
us ; I feel him ; he wished to indicate his presence from despite; 
he does not dare to show himself at present." (Scarcely had 
she spoken when the noise was renewed ; it came from the ta- 
ble — from which I had entirely removed the strips of cloth a 
moment before — much louder than at first, and was repeated 
several times in succession. I moved the table on one side, 
almost to the w T all ; but scarcely had I taken my seat again 
when we heard the same noise again. R. now said :) " It gra- 
tifies him to attract our attention to himself ; even this makes 
him feel more comfortably. But it is a dreadful case with this 
spirit; when he finds no help where he expected it, he rushes 
away, and becomes quite furious and despairing. You remem- 
ber well, that so early as four in the afternoon of to-day I felt 
so much anxiety. I told you then that I felt as if something pecu- 
liarly disagreeable would befall me to-day." (These words she 
had really used.) This feeling came from the neighborhood of 
this being. Hitherto I have seen only good spirits, and J must 
even submit, since it has been necessary once to see an evil one." 
Will you see this wretch again ? a Not to-day ; but as he has 
found the way to me, I fear he will lay hold of every opportunity 
to approach me. But Albert says, he will not have it in his 
power to hurt me. He can also come near me in the interval 
attacks which I am yet to have. Ah, that is a thing I dread 5 
thank God, Albert has set him bounds.* Although he cannot 



For nothing is more delightful to the angels, than to serve mankind 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 193 

prevent him from appearing, he yet will not dare to approach 
me in any injurious way. But I have no mind to speak further 
of this wretched being ; I will rest a while. (She lies quietly 
for more than three quarters of an hour. This time having 
elapsed, she says ;) Ah, my Albert has just come to me again." 
Will he stay long with you 1 " No, I shall awake soon.— This 
time, however, you must blow three times over my face; other- 
wise I shall continuue to sleep, and each time your will must 
be firmly fixed on the idea that I shall wake up." Shall 1 do 
this immediately? " No, I will tell you the time shortly. (A 
pause.) You intend to set out to-morrow for Stuttgart ; my 
Albert says you must be here at six in the evening ; I beg you 
so to arrange your affairs, that you can be with me at the time 
mentioned. Should you be away, my sufferings would be 
greatly increased. I shall have cramps." I shall certainly be 
with you about six o'clock ; do not be afraid. When will the 
interval attacks occur? ? Every day regularly, Albert says, 
from now till Monday. O God ! then I shall be well I (She 
folds her hands, and prays in silence for some minutes.) Now 
wake me up ; at this moment my Albert leaves me." (I did 
as she had directed me, and she woke cheerful and strengthened, 
after a slight agitation of the body attended with a deep sigh.) 

July 4tfj. 

I drove into the village in the evening as the clock struck 
six. In a few minutes I stood by the couch of R. already suf- 
fering with violent cramps. Towards the end of the struggle, 
which lasted fifteen minutes, she looked from time to time to one 
side, with an affrighted manner and a countenance of horror. 
She could not answer the questions which I put to her on this 
subject, on account of the very great difficulty of her respira- 
tion. The oftener, however, she repeated this look, the more 
violent grew her spasms. At length she forced out the words : 
Albert ! Albert ! you must come, if I am to be relieved from these 
cramps." But they continued about half an hour, so that I began 



by inspiring them with what is good, and by restraining the evil spirits 
attendant on them from passing theirproper bounds.— A. G. 454. 



194 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

to feel anxious. At length she fetched a deep sigh and said with a 
joyful face : " Thank God, my Albert is here !" Why does he 
come to-day? He left you only yesterday. "Alas, the dark 
spirit, who was near me before my Albert came." "What have 
you to do with him 1 " I saw in him, that he had been with you in 
Stuttgart ; that increased my cramps, and he was rejoiced at it." 
Do not be alarmed ; I know nothing of the wretch ; I enjoyed 
myself very well in Stuttgart. " Ah, I see it now in Albert also, 
who prevented the mischief." I do not know what you mean ; 
what, then, does Albert say 1 Ah, only think, in Stuttgart the 
wretch dared to withstand my pure angelic Albert and bid him 
defiance. He protected you from his approach." Explain your- 
self more distinctly ; I do not understand you. " You made a 
visit, between eleven and twelve this morning, as I see in 
Albert, to some one in Stuttgart. At this time the dark one 
came in the front chamber of the house where you alighted, and 
which goes out on the street. There he intended to wait for 
your return. But Albert, who was near you, saw him and bade him 
away. But he bid him defiance and would not retire, where- 
upon Albert seized him with his heavenly power* and hurled him 
far away. During this defiance the wretch raged violently, and 
threw down, in his impotent fury, two flower-pots from the 
middle window to the ground. Oh, it would not here been good 
for you to have had him approach you. Your nerves are still 
very excitable, and his influence might easily have recalled your 
old affection. You would not indeed have seen him, but you 
would have felt him. Albert guarded you strongly in this 
matter." (This communication of R.'s surprised me the more, 
as the matters of fact cognizable by the eye which she connected 
with her account of these spirits had really happened as she 
said. By way of explanation. I here add the following : 
I returned, having made a call, to the house where I was 



* But the power of the angels in the spiritual world is so great, that if I 
should relate all the things concerning it which have been seen by me, 
they would^exceed belief. If any thing there resists, which is to be re- 
moved because it is contrary to divine order, they cast it down and over- 
turn it merely by an effort of the will and look. I have seen also some 
hundreds of thousands of evil spirits dispersed and cast into hell by them. 
— H. ##.229. ' y 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 1P5 

lodging, after twelve. When one has the staircase behind him in 
this building, there are two doors on the right and left, leading to 
five chambers, which run into one another and form together a bow, 
so that the two doors mentioned form the two extreme points of 
the whole suite of apartments, which points are opposite yet 
near to one another. The door on the left leading into the 
chamber on the street was locked on the outside. I stepped, 
therefore, into that on the right which gives access to the cham- 
ber in the rear of the house. Here I heard, at the same moment 
with the landlady whom I found in this back chamber, a loud 
noise of something falling in the front rooms. Instantly we has- 
tened both through the apartments connecting the front and 
rear, and entered the one which I have already observed was 
locked on the outside. In the middle of the floor, not close under 
the window bench, we found, to our great astonishment, the two 
flower-pots, which had stood for several weeks quietly on the 
bench of the middle window, broken into many fragments, the 
earth scattered along to the door opposite the window, and the 
plants they contained, a Hortensia and a Cactus, hurled to the 
stove which stood on the opposite side of the room. Our aston- 
ishment was greatly increased by observing that the right 
portion of the curtain belonging to the middle window, which 
usually, like the others, hung down to the floor, was now spread 
over the cage of a canary bird, which was hanging near the win- 
dow from the ceiling, and so wrapped about it that the cage 
seemed enveloped in its folds. The whole phenomenon was the 
more astonishing to us from the fact, that the room was locked, 
that there was noliving creature, not even a cat, in it, that, though 
the window was open, the blinds were closed, and that, along 
with a degree of heat almost intolerable, there was an entire 
absence of wind. The derangement, however, was so great, 
that even a violent storm or a cat could not possibly have pro- 
duced it. The envelopment of the cage by the long curtain 
hanging up so high was to us the most surprising and inexpli- 
cable thing of all. In the course of the afternoon, and by the 
diversion of the ride homeward, I had meanwhile forgotten the 
affair ; and as I had not attributed much importance to it at the 
time, and as, especially, no such connection with the supernatural 
as R. asserted in the evening had entered my mind in the re- 



196 HISTORY/ OF THE CASE. 

motest manner, I was certainly surprised at the wonderful ex- 
planation which I received on my arrival at Schwaikheim, and 
the more so, as I had not yet mentioned the incident to anyone 
in Schwaikheim, and had repaired, immediately on leaving the 
chaise, in my travelling clothes and before even I had greeted 
my family, to R.'s sick bed. R. now proceeds :) '* He will not 
now try to approach you any more. The struggle was not a 
successful one to him. (She smiles.) O what an idea I He 
— he — to dare a struggle with a being so pure !* He cannot 
endure you, because you preach the pure doctrine of the Bible 
which he profaned ; he is a malicious spirit, but his very hell 
consists in this, that he consumes in his own unsatisfied wishes 
and desires.f Albert, however, says that there is still something 
good in him.J He has moments when he perceives his wretch- 
edness, and endeavors, or rather I should say, makes an essay, 
towards reformation ; but he has not yet a true longing to be 
better. He has even moments when he really thinks better ; 
then he immediately receives strength from above ; but then 
again he becomes just as quickly self-conceited, and reckons 
himself better than he is. That is just like man ! Only to the 
humble is God near. The dreadful thought of those he has mur- 
dered and seduced, remains ever a heavy obstacle in the way of 
his improvement.^ His endeavoring to return by force to the 
life of this earth is a new sin which he commits. He knows 



* Since truths from good have all power, hence falses from evil have 
no power at all. All in hell are in falses from evil, wherefore they have 
no power against truth and good . — H. § H. 233. 

t Evil with man is hell with him, for whether we speak of evil or of 
hell, it is the same thing. — H. fy H. 547. 

t There are many persons who during their abode in the world, through 
simplicity and ignorance, have imbibed falses as to faith, and have formed 
a certain species of conscience according to the principles of their faith, 
and have not, like others, lived in hatred, revenge and adulteries. These 
in another life, so long as they are in the false, cannot be introduced into 
the heavenly societies lest they should defile them, and therefore they are 
kept for a certain time in the lower earth, in order that they may put off 
the principles of the false. The times of their continuance there are 
longer or shorter, according to the nature of the false, the life contracted 
thereby, and according to the principles confirmed in themselves : some 
endure hard things in that state, others, things not hard. These are what 
are called vastations. — A. C. 1106. 

§ Spirits are vastated in a great variety of ways — some by infestation 
from the evils which they committed when in the world. — H. fy H. 510. 



HIST0E1 OF THE CASE. 197 

that this is contrary to God's will ; but he has freedom,* and God 
permits it ; but, at the same time, He sends higher and good spi- 
rits who frustrate these attempts. (A pause.) You would not 
believe what a horrible stench this black spirit diffuses.f Just 
as my Albert leaves behind him a delightful odor when he goes, 
so he— a shocking one."J But what does this evil spirit want 
with me 1 " It is a part of his torment that he seeks help 
where he knows he cannot find it. Defiance, rage, stupidity, 
malice, are perpetually driving him about. As I told you, he 
cannot endure you for the very reason that you have a spiritual 
calling." Whence does he know this 1 " He saw it in me and 
Albert. He knows that you proclaim the right doctrine, and 
that he taught, willed and did wrong in the world. By himself 
he cannot see you and your concerns, without such a medium 
as I now am to him."§ Then he does not know where I am at 
all times ] " No." How then did he guess that I was in Stutt- 
gart] "He saw it yesterday in me, and in Albert. You 
thought several times about it, as I also did myself. Albert 
knew of it, and so he saw your intention. He found you in 
Stuttgart easily, as he knew that Albert would be near you. 
He went after him, and so there came about the contest in 
which he of course was worsted." But could not Albert fore- 
see all this yesterday 1 M No, Albert does not know every 
thing. (A pause.) Just now I remember a paper which I had 
in my hands in Heiligkreutsthal. Albert reminds me of its 
contents." What were they ] " In that convent I took up a 
bit of printed paper, on which, in characters scarce legible to me, 
were the words : 

The Bible made false is the coop of the devil ; 
Within it there hides every sort of evil. 

* It is an eternal law that every one be in freedom. — A. C. 2870. 

t When they are taken away thence they are given to be sensible of 
their own stench, which is most offensive.— A. C. 901. 

Z Every delight whatever corresponds to a smell, and can be converted 
into it in the spiritual world : and then the common delight is perceived 
in heaven as the smell of a garden, with variety according to the fragran- 
ces there from the flowers and fruits ; and the common delight in hell is 
perceived as stagnant water into which different filths have been thrown, 
with variety, according to the bad odor from the rotten and stinking things 
therein.— D. P. 304. 

$ Neither spirits nor angels, by their own proper sight can see any 
thing that is in the natural world. Nevertheless both spirits and angels, 
when it pleases the Lord, may see things in the natural world, through 
the eyes of men,— E, U. 135. 



198 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

This he had had printed ; so Albert says ; that bit of paper 
was from him." Can you tell me nothing of the contents and 
title of the book from which that leaf was torn. " Albert does 
not tell me the title of the book, because he does not choose to 
pronounce the name ;* but he says the substance of the book 
was directed against the Protestant doctrine." I suppose, how- 
ever, that, if the words you have quoted can be found in any 
book the author will then be known by name 1 " Oh no ; Al- 
bert says these words have been used by many both before and 
after him ; that he did not originate, but only used them." (A 
pause.) Why did you look in such a terrified and shuddering 
manner towards the garden, during the struggle preceding this 
crisis 1 Did you see any thing so early as that, of this dark 
spirit ] « c Yes, I saw the dreadful creature again, as he stood 
there all bent together and distorted. But Albert immediately 
bade him away. He would most willingly have had help from 
me. But Albert says that, if I have too much to do with him, he 
will directly think he has claims on me, and nowhere would 
allow me any rest. This I could not endure ; it would destroy 
me. Albert says that he has been a long time trying to approach 
me. Remember how, several times of late, there has been a 
sharp report in the stove, though it had no fire in it and no one 
was near it ; and remember the fall in the dining room, while 
your mother, your wife, your two sisters and myself were 
standing at the door. It sounded as if some heavy weight had 
been thrown down near us on the floor — we were all startled. 
That was the dark spirit ; he wished to draw attention to him- 
self, and for this reason the fall was so close to me." Just at 
that moment I was stepping into the kitchen ; I remember your 
alarm very well. But tell me how it comes, that T, who was 
only three steps from you, did not hear what five persons de- 
clared they heard so distinctly ] *' Albert prevented it. You 
were speaking with the maid about some indifferent matter, 
and were closing the door behind you ; we were standing in the 
passage, and talking aloud together ; the fall took place, then, 
very near us, and so it escaped you. You too would have 



* For the angels cannot open their lips to pronounce the word Gods, for 
the celestial aura in which they live opposes it. — T. C. R. 6. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 199 

heard it, if Albert had not prevented it. You were on the 
point of joining us, when he suggested to your mind 
the thought of going into the kitchen. Had you heard the 
fall yourself ', the circumstance, inasmuch as you could not have 
explained it, would have caused more uneasiness to you than to 
all the rest of us. This would not have been good for you at 
that juncture. The difficulty in your stomach was likely, just 
at that period, to become active again. (A pause of half an 
hour during which she rests.) But now Albert is obliged to 
leave me, and I am to wake up. There he already soars away. 
Farewell, loving guardian ! Now wake me up !" (I blew 
over her face ; she started several times and awoke.) 

July 5th, 

At nine o'clock on the morning of the fifth of July there 
came on, after a short sickness, a half-sleep in which R. several 
times declared that she felt a delightful rest. This state, how- 
ever, lasted only half an hour ; for, all at once, a spasmodic 
agitation came over her whole system, followed by a general 
rigidity, which continued an hour and a half. After this she 
recovered, which I ascribed to the long continued breathing on 
her mouth, which eagerly drew in my breath, as though it were 
some delicious reflection. As soon as the rigidity was gone, 
her countenance brightened up ; but only for a short time, for 
all at once she exclaimed. " There he is !" and looked again 
into the same corner of the apartment. Who is there ? " The 
dark spirit." Where is he ; in my chamber 1 " O no, he dares 
not visit your house ; Albert has solemnly given him this 
charge, and, in that case, he must obey. That now enrages 
him." But how can you see him when he is not in the cham- 
ber] "Ah, your walls do not prevent me; I see his form in 
the air, over your garden, near the barn and seventy paces from 
us. (I pointed in that direction with my hand, whereupon she 
said :) He saw that ; it vexes him that you point at him and 
he dares not approach. Ugh ! he has coarse, rough hair like 
swine's bristles.* (A pause of about eight minutes.) Ah, now 

* Spirits can know from the hair, its color, length and the manner 
in which it is spread, what had been the quality of the natural life in the 
world.— A. C. 5570. 

Swine signify filthy loves. — A. E. 1044. 



200 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

he must begone ; he bows himself ; a higher power has hurled 
him away. I do not see him any longer. That must have been 
Albert ; I see something there of his splendor. (She continued 
to lie quietly until eleven o'clock, when, at her request, I 
waked her up. 

At five in the evening of the same day R. was again attacked 
with sickness and general cramps, which, in seven or eight 
minutes, turned into a general rigidity similar to that of the 
morning, and lasting till half past seven. By laying my hand 
on her and breathing on her mouth I brought her back, about 
this time, to the usual magnetic half-sleep. Scarcely had she 
recovered the free use of her organs, when she drew up her 
nose with a face expressive of great disgust. Shortly after- 
wards she made the motion of smelling, several times, in the 
direction of the garden, and said : "Ah, what a stench comes 
from him. He is near, I smell him." How is that possible 1 
" Why should it not be possible ? I can smell his atmosphere* as 
well as I can see him. As you and Albert diffuse an odor 
which is agreeable to me, so he, one which affects me unfavor- 
ably.! (A pause.) Remember, that I do not smell with my 
nose ; it is, indeed, something somewhat different from smelling 
that I mean ; but I can only compare it to a smell. It is just 
so with your breath ; it often smells in such a way, that I must 
compare its effect on me to the smell of violets ; and yet it is 



* The spheres of charity and faith, when perceived as odors are most de- 
lightful ; the odors are sweet and pleasant, like those of flowers lilies and 
spices of divers kinds with an indefinite variety. — A. C. 1519. 

t Man does not know, that according to the life of his affections, a cer- 
tain spiritual sphere encompasses him, which sphere is more perceptible to 
the angels, than a sphere of odors is to the most exquisite sense in the 
world. If his life had been in externals alone, namely, in pleasures de- 
rived from hatred against hi3 neghbor, from revenges and from cruelty, 
thence from adulteries, from self exaltation, and thence contempt of oth- 
ers, from clandestine rapines, from avarice, from deceits, from luxury, and 
the like, the spiritual sphere which encompassed him, is as foul and offen- 
sive, as is in the world the sphere of odor from dead bodies ; from dung- 
hills, from stinking filth and the like. The man who has led such a life, 
carries with him this sphere after death ; and because he is wholly and 
entirely in that sphere, he cannot be any where but in hell where such 
spheres are. But they who are in internal things, namely who have had 
delight in benevolence and charity towards the neighbor, and especially 
who have had blessedness in love to the Lord, are encompassed with a 
grateful and pleasant sphere, which is essentially heavenly.— A. C. 4464 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 201 

not properly smelling." Do you see the dark spirit at present! 
" Yes, he has been visible to me for a few moments. Truly, I 
see in him, that he wishes me to pray for him. He cannot him- 
self; I will even do it. (She prays :) O merciful Father in 
Heaven ! help this poor, unhappy creature ; let him come 
to the knowledge of his wretchedness ; deliver him soon from 
his pitiable state. (She looks towards the dark spirit.) Alas i 
He thinks, already again, that he is able to help himself ; his 
self-conceit is back so soon. He believes that he must now be 
delivered, and that lie wants help no longer. O shockingly 
deluded spirit ! But this moment you prayed for help, and you 
are already proud and self-confident again !* Repent at last ; 
turn yourself to Him Who has given you an example that you 
can follow His steps, and Who has offered His grace even to 
such a depraved sinner as yourself. He will even yet receive 
you, if you only will come to acknowledge your moral wretched- 
ness and take firm resolutions of amendment. (She starts back 
with signs of displeasure.) Ah, think, he is laughing with 
proud insolence ;f dreadful transgressor, what have I to do with 
you ! (All at once she says joyfully :) Ah, my Albert is coming, 
and see, the dark spirit gives way ; he has gone already. (After 
three minutes :) Oh, my Albert has already left me again ; he 
only wished to strengthen me, because the dark spirit has so 
shocked me by his laughing. (A pause.) This was one of the 
good moments of the unhappy wretch. Oh, God's goodness and 
grace are without limits ! Scarcely does the first desire stir 
itself, when He gives strength and light : even to him will He 
ever give them, although hitherto He has only abused them. 
(A pause.) I have to thank him, however, at least for this 
short but friendly visit of Albert's. But this spirit, as I just now 
saw in Albert, has done shocking things on earth. " What is 
it 7 " It excites and almost makes me shudder to tell ; only 



* All such spirits are sensual-natural, and think that they alone live, and 
look on others as images : they think themselves wiser than all others al- 
though they are in a state of insanity. — D. fy W. 144. 

t Such persons appear in the other life, when they come into the state 
of their interiors, and are heard to speak and seen to act, as infatuated ; 
for from their evil lusts they burst forth into all abominations, into con- 
tempt of others, into ridicule and blasphemy, into hatred and revenge. — 
H. * H. 506. 

9* 



202 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

think, before he killed his own children he tortured them, with 
unnatural pleasure, with a dagger, and even after death he cut 
their dead bodies in pieces. The monster did the last, also, to 
keep his crimes more certainly secret. He cut and tore their 
bodies to pieces, and concealed them by night, until, with the 
help of a maid belonging to the monastery, he was able to convey 
them out and put them behind the covering of the high altar. 
He succeeded several times in these attempts ; but he was be- 
trayed in the last ; unhappily for him, at the time he concealed the 
fragments of the body in the place I mentioned, the church was 
never withoutsome monks in it. The body quickly began to putrefy 
in consequence of the weather, which happened then to be very 
hot, and the affair was soon discovered. Search was made for the 
author of the deed. The dark spirit was the first and loudest in 
expressions of censure against the infamous and, as yet, undis- 
covered offender. Suspicion, notwithstanding, fell upon him, 
and, when he saw that he could no longer escape detection, he 
resolved upon flight from the monastery. One of the maids of 
the monastery, with whom he had all along carried on his loose 
practices, procured him a peasant's frock, and so he made his 
escape. Despair followed him ; he found rest nowhere. He 
dwelt by day in forests, caverns and thick bushes ; at night he 
prosecuted his flight, as he knew well that he would be pursued. 
At last he hung himself, in a fit of despair, on one of the trees 
of the forest. He was sixty-eight years old when he died. 
Even at this age he led so infamous a life. But I do not wish 
to speak more of him ; he might return. ,, (She now lay down 
quietly and slept till eight. About this time she asked me to 
wake her up. I tried to do it in the usual way ; but instead of 
waking there came on violent cramps which lasted several mi- 
nutes. All at once she cried out, startled ;) " He is here again ; 
he is furiously enraged." (Immediately after these words 
there came on a convulsion which extended over her whole 
body, and which quickly brought her back to the waking state. 
After waking, she wept without being able to say why, and 
complained, (a thing quite unusual with her,) of oppression at 
the stomach and in the head. These unpleasant feelings were 
removed, by my laying on my hand, in about six minutes ; but, 
to make amends, I experienced in the left hand, (the one which 






HISTORY OF THE CASE. 203 

was laid on her stomach,) a severe pain, and a stiffness which 
lasted for a whole hour.) 

July 6th. 

On the sixth of July at three in the afternoon R., after a short 
sickness at the stomach and a few slight convulsions of the 
limbs, fell into a general catalepsy, which lasted again an hour 
and a half. With the return of speech, about five o'clock, the 
dark spirit also made his appearance, and R. said ;) There he 
is again already ; he wishes me to pray for him once again. O 
Heaven ! this time he has one with him who, if possible, is still 
worse than he is himself. He has a form only half human.* 
(Shortly she turned to the dark spirit with the words :) I told 
you yesterday that you must apply to your Redeemer ; but you 
laughed at an exhortation that was so necessary for your case. 
In this way, you can never receive any help. If you do not ap- 
ply all your own powers, your own self, to a reformation, you 
are lost." What does he say to this ] " Nothing — not a word. 
Nevertheless I will pray for you once more. Unhappy being \ 
Have you then gathered absolutely nothing while you lived on 
earth, that you are so utterly poor] (A pause.) Now he laughs 
again. O miserable creature ! you are lost, forever lost, if you do 
not cultivate better dispositions* Who will save you ] Still I will 
pray for you once more; but if you believe that you need nothing 
more, that you are raised above the necessity of prayer, it will 
again be in vain. (A pause.) His companion allows him no 
rest now that he sees that my exhortations are likely to pene- 
trate his interiors. He drags him about by his long fingers, and 
tries, in his own way, to divert his thoughts to other subjects. 
Oh, this one is all heavy and unformed like a bear.f (A pause.) 
Why did you not come alone] Then your soul could have been 
much more easily affected." What does he say to this ] " That 



* The punishment of such is dreadful ; after they have suffered infernal 
torments for a succession of ages, they at length acquire a shocking and 
most monstrous countenance or face, so that it is not a face, but a sort of 
coarse and ghostly substance : thus they put off all that is human, till 
everyone who sees them shudders at the sight. — A. C. 816. 

t They who separate them, appear also, in the spiritual world, at a dis- 
tance like bears. — A. jR. 47. 



204 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

the other accompanied him against his will. Do you see, that 
is your torment]* Oh rise above yourself and resist this mon- 
ster. You can do so, if you earnestly will it. Should you not 
do every thing to procure yourself only a more tolerable con- 
dition f" What does he say to this 1 *' Ah, you try to lay the 
blame on him ! Wretched subterfuge ! You can, if you will. 
Yet I will try — if I cannot remove the monster. In the name 
of God, depart immediately I Albert ! Albert ! (A pause.) 
Now, now, he is obliged to go. He flies away with horrid con- 
tortions of his hideous form. (A pause.) Now I have a mind 
to see whether you are in earnest. Take courage ! Hear my 
prayer and my address, and then endeavor to be better. Think 
how happy you will feel, when you can think more calmly of 
God and of yourself. (A pause.) He is reflecting earnestly ; 
he takes pains. Now hear what I shall say to you. (She 
folds her hands and speaks slowly and solemnly :) " Our Father 
in Heaven !" How do you feel at this expression 1 O see, He 
desired to be even your Father ; you were not His child ; lay 
hold, at last, of His hand. He still feels lovingly toward you.f 
" Hallowed be Thy name ! ,} Oh that you have never done. 
Begin at last ; learn to revere Him as your God : learn to love 
Him, and then you will come nearer to Him and become happy. 
* c Thy kingdom come !" Yes, to you and into your soul may it 
come, poor one ; you, too, He will bless as a citizen of His 
kingdom, if you will keep His commandments. Oh, resolve ; 
leave the kingdom of sin and misery. " Thy will be done on 
earth as in Heaven !" On earth you despised the will of God, 
and, for that reason, you are not there among those happy 
creatures to whom it will be eternal joy to do His will. Sum- 
mon up your powers at last, renounce your own will, cast away 
your foolish self-conceit and bow before the Highest and the 



* It was granted me to discourse with those miserable persons (under 
vastation) for some time ; they complained chiefly of evil spirits as burn- 
ing with a continual desire only to torment them. — A. C. 699. 

t The love of God goes and extends itself not only to good persons and 
good things, but also to evil persons and evil things ; consequently, not 
only to those things and persons which are in heaven, but also to those 
which are in hell ; thus not only to Michael and Gabriel, but also to the 
devil and Satan ; for God is, everywhere and from eternity to eternity, 
the same.— T. C.R.43. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 205 

Best. N Givs us this day our daily bread !" Be it from this 
time the food of your soul to do the will of God, and then He will 
never, no never, suffer you to want for heavenly nourishment,* 
for internal light and the sustenance of your powers. " For- 
give us our debts as we forgive our debtors !" This your 
revengeful heart has never done, and yet has the everlasting 
love of God hitherto mercifully supported and borne with you. 
Oh, pray at last for forgiveness of your heavy sin ; acknowledge 
your transgression and feel your misery ! " Lead us not into 
temptation !" Never has God laid on you aught too heavy. 
You yourself have brought on your own temptations to sin ;f 
you had a will to commit them ; never have you tried to govern 
yourself. Oh, it is high time ; try it earnestly, and with God's 
help you will succeed. " But deliver us from evil !" If you 
have hitherto prayed earnestly after me, then, without doubt, 
these words are spoken from your deepest soul. And believe 
it, if it is your serious purpose to be better, your Heavenly 
Father will soon deliver you from this wretched state ; for His 
is all power and might forever. (A pause.) How do you feel 
now 1 That was the prayer of the Lord, your Redeemer, and 
you must live after Him, if you ever wish to become happy. 
(To me.) God be thanked ! He wills, he wills at least to 
become better, and he is already better by that very circum- 
stance. His face is no longer so rugged, his hair no longer so 
shockingly wild and rough. J (A pause.) Now depart, you 
have food ; you can nourish yourself; be as diligent in pursuing 
good, as you have heretofore been in seeking evil ; then you 
will at last acquire a relish for it, and your Redeemer will 
make you experience His grace. He will receive you, but — 
understand it well — from grace !§ Give over your arrogance ! 

* Every man in Christendom imbued with religion, may know, or if he 
does not know, may learn, that there is natural nourishment and spi- 
ritual nourishment ; and that natural nourishment is for the body, but 
spiritual nourishment, for the soul. — T. C. R. 709. 

t The evil, of himself, continually leads himself deeper into his evils : 
it is said — of himself— because all evil is from man ; for he turns good, 
which is from the Lord, into evil. — D. P. 296. 

X The spirit of man, viewed in itself, is nothing but its own affection, the 
external form of which is the face. All whoever are there (in the spirit- 
ual world) are reduced into such a state that they speak as they think, 
and show by the looks and gestures what they wilL — H § H, 457. 

§ Man is thereby withdrawn from evil not by himself, but by the Lord.— 
D, P. 298. 



206 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

Now he gees slowly. I see him no more. Ah Lord ! if I may 
have been so happy as to have fanned the good spark in this 
poor soul to a lasting flame I God will help him. (After a 
longer pause.) Yesterday evening I wept, without having 
been able to assign the cause ; now I see it. Just before I 
waked the dark spirit came nearer to me than Albert had 
allowed him. He was angry because I had told the truth about 
him. The near operation of his atmosphere [Dunstkreis : 
Vapory sphere]* stupefied my system and operated hurtfully on 
my spirits, — yet no evil consequences will result from it. Now 
I shall see him no more. Well will it be for him, if he follows 
my exhortations. I have promised to pray for him ; I can do 
so without his being near me ; I will often do so ; remind me 
of it when I wake up. Now awake me." (At this moment I 
felt a slight twitching of the left side of the upper lip. With- 
out saying anything about it to R., I approached a finger of 
her left hand to the spot, which had scarcely touched it when 
it was spasmodically contracted. Soon her arm began to 
tremble and she complained of pains in it, which, however, lasted 
only two minutes. The twitching had ceased with me, but on 
the other hand, made its appearance, in a considerably greater 
degree, in the same part of her upper lip, which for a few 
minutes was drawn convulsively from side to side. At last 
she said:) "On account of this little attack I must sleep 
fourteen minutes longer." (This time having elapsed I waked 
her in the usual manner.) 

July 7th. 

After six in the evening, a deep melancholy, which took pos- 
session of her without any occasion, or without any cause 
which she could assign for it, formed the introduction to R.'s 
last crisis. A flood of tears bursting out at last relieved her 
feelings in the course of fifteen minutes, upon which followed 



* The will or love of every man constitutes the whole man there, and 
the sphere of the life thence Hows forth from him as an exhalation or va- 
por, and encompasses him. and makes as it were himself around him. — 
A. C. 10,130. 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 207 

oppression of the chest, alternating with cramps in the limbs 
and convulsions in a degree I had never seen before. The agi- 
tations and reactions of the body were so violent, that I was 
not able, by myself, to guard her against possible mischief, for 
which reason I asked my brother to assist me. On this occa- 
sion, as well as on the third of July, there succeeded several 
spasmodic attacks, one after another, which were uniformly fol- 
lowed, when their violence was spent, by complete prostration. 
It was like a struggle between life and death several times re- 
peated ; when the fit of exhaustion came on the sufferer was 
the exact image of a dying person. The half-opened mouth 
uttered slow and stammering words almost inarticulately ; the 
breathing was heavy and rattling ; the eye was fixed, and the 
complexion a yellowish white ; even the nose seemed sharper 
and more prominent than usual. After this dreadful struggle had 
lasted about an hour, it appeared, on washing her head with 
Cologne water, as if some vitality was likely to return. The 
cheeks were slightly colored ; the limbs were only slightly con- 
vulsed, the spasms were gone, and she could now fold her hands. 
Still I could scarcely hear the lightly whispered words which 
she uttered, although I held my ear to her mouth. In the 
course of a quarter of an hour, during which she had lain 
quietly, we heard the following more distinctly. 

Now at the goal I stand, through Thee, O Father ! 
Through heavy struggles [ have passed to gain it. 
Thanks, thanks to Thee for all Thy loving-kindness ; 
Thy arm it is, by which I have been holden 
From sinking into night— what words can praise Thee ? 

(She weeps in silence.) 

Behold my heart and see its earnest longing ! 
To do what r s pleasing in Thy sight henceforth, 
To seek Thy blessing on my works begun, 
From Thee my power for all good deeds to borrow, 
To Thee alone, of all to give the glory; 
This only is the gratitude Thou askest. 

(A long pause, during which she speaks too low to be heard ; 
at length more distinctly :) 



208 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

Shepherd of my soul so true and loving, 
Show me the way, wherein, no longer roving, 

1 may advance, through whatsoever sadness, 
Till, pure in heart, I see Thy face in gladness. 
Oh, blessed day, when I may come before Thee, 
And thankful join the angels to adore Thee. 

(Again an interval of silence of some length.) 

And thou, my Guardian good and fatherlike, 
How, for thy care, can I e'er make thee payment, 
Who led'st me by the hand through all my trouble \ 
Look in my heart, it burns with love all purely ; 
What can I give that's better than affection ? — 
Henceforth I'll shape my life by thy direction. 



What were I without thee, my faithful helper % 

Thou shield'st my body, while my soul thou leadest. 

With calls and warnings, censures, checks and threat'nings, 

Thou bearest still with all my waywardnesses. 

No, never shall sin tempt my feet to wander, 

For thy monitions I will ever ponder. 



I have thy promise — thou wilt never leave me, 

So long as in this vale I am a pilgrim ; 

Help me in sorrows — help me to make holy 

All my enjoyments and to live for Heaven, 

That so — my daily prayer 'twill be — earth's sadness 

All over, I may come to thee with gladness. 

Thou also, noble friend, physician, helper, 

Deserv'st my deepest thanks — Thou wert the fountain 

From which new life stream'd to my wasted system, 

And by this love, to health 1 am recovered. 

Still in the bonds of fell disease I'd languish, 

But for thy aid to soothe and end my anguish. 

For this, thy hands forevermore be blessed, 
That worked in all my pain so healthfully. 
Nor didst thou value heavy sacrifices — 
To do me good, thy constant, sole endeavor. 
For this, there stirs within me deep emotion — 
No, ne'er will I forget thy true devotion. 

(She prays.) 

To Thee, O Father, now I turn my prayer — 
Impart to this my friend, in all its fulness, 
As now to me, of health the heavenly blessing, 
That to the work, whereto he has Thy calling, 
He may return with a new strength and spirit — 
Such is my prayer— Thine all the praise and merit. 






HISTORY OF THE CASE. 209 

After these words R. lies quietly with her hands folded for 
a full half hour. At length her features brighten up in a 
striking manner, she lifts her arms slowly, directs her face 
upwards towards the point where she always said she saw her 
guardian spirit, and says :) " It approaches — the flower ; 
Gracious Lord ! what joy ! It is Amandus, Amandus who 
brings it. Then I am permitted to see you once more, dear 
friend I" Is the flower already there 1 " Yes, he brought it 
to me this moment. (Astonished.) But what do I see ! The 
flower is again adorned with all its leaves. O how beautiful 
it is ! Only I see a dark spot on the side of the cup ; this sig- 
nifies the affection of my breast ; my lungs will still suffer 
for years. Yet that will be good for me, and protect me from 
many ills. (A pause.) What I supposed was the case my 
Albert now confirms." What do you mean? " The flower 
is a remedial agent of the higher world, and is applied to 
others also who suffer as I have done. For which reason 
the leaves are now renewed ; the internal virtue of the flower, 
in obedience to its nature, puts forth the leaves." I took this 
flower, hitherto, to be only a symbol of your case. " It was such 
doubtless, at the same time ; but it is yet more ; its inmost 
nature is salutary. Its approach has always operated greatly 
to strengthen me, and it seemed, at the same time, as if there 
was a transfer of morbid matter from myself to it. (A pause.) 
Albert confirms this, and says, that this was the reason why its 
leaves gradually withered." Are there many of these flowers 
where Albert is ? '• Yes, such plants flourish in the sun ; 
from there, Albert says, their salutary power is conveyed into 
all the planets.* (A pause.) Ah, Amandus is so friendly ! 
And I am compelled to mourn that I must see him to-day for 



* First it shall be told what correspondence is. The whole natural 
world corresponds to the spiritual world ; not only the natural world in 
general, but also in every particular; wherefore, whatever exists in the 
natural world from the spiritual, that is said to be correspondent. 

How the things which are in the vegetable kingdom correspond, may be 
evident from many things ;— That all the things that are in that kingdom, 
are also correspondences, has been made manifest to me from much expe- 
rience : for often, when I have been in gardens, and have there looked at 
trees, fruits, flowers, and pulse, I have observed the correspondences in 
heaven, and have spoken with those with whom they were, and have been 
instructed whence they were and what they were.— H. <$• H. 89, 109. 



210 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

the last time. Perchance, ye happy ones, you will soon come 
and fetch me away from the earth, where it is so sad, so troub- 
lous, so dark. Oh ! how do I rejoice in expectation of that 
glorious light !* But no ; I must first become good, and ever 
better and better ; now, I should not be permitted to approach 
you, ye holy ones ; my heart is still too impure ; your splendor, 
your dignity I could not endure." (A pause.) C., my brother, 
would be glad to ask you a few questions more. " I will gladly 
answer them, if I can." He asks, Whether Albert knows where 
Jesus dwelt, while His body was in the grave ? " Albert says, 
with all departed souls ; that he died for them too ; that he be- 
came their Redeemer also.f Oh, then, he says, many souls 



* That there is light in the heavens, those cannot apprehend who think on- 
ly from nature ; when yet, in the heavens, the light is so great, that it exceeds 
by many degrees the mid-day light in the world ; it has been seen by me 
often, even in the times of evening and night. In the beginning I won- 
dered when I heard the angels say, that the light of the world is scarcely 
other than shade respectively to the light of heaven ; but since it has been 
seen, I can testify to it ; its brightness and its splendor are such, that they 
cannot be described. The things which have been seen by me in the 
heavens, were seen in that light ; thus more clearly and distinctly than 
things in the worid. — H. ty H. 124. 

t Jehovah God descended and assumed the human, to the end that He 
might reduce to order all things which were in heaven, and all things 
which were in hell, and all things which were in the church ; since, at 
that time the power of hell prevailed over the power of heaven, and upon 
earth, the power of evil over the power of good, and thence a total damna- 
tion stood before the door and threatened. This impending damnation 
Jehovah God removed by means of His Human, and thus redeemed men 
and angels.— T. C. R. 121. 

If the true nature of Jesus is rightly stated in the preceding note, — 
namely, that He is Jehovah God in a Humanity, instead of being the Son 
of God only, the second of Three Divine Persons existing from eternity, — 
it might be supposed that it would have been stated explicitly by a being 
of the spiritual world, who must have regarded it as a most high and im- 
portant verity, to one given into his care and, by the Divine Providence, 
brought into open intercourse with him. It appears, however, by the fol - 
lowing extracts from Swedenborg, that this, as being a point of doctrine-— 
indeed the first of all " doctrinals" — could not havet>een taught to R., in 
the state she was in, without an infraction of the laws of the divine order. 
The same extracts will help us to understand how it is, that Albert seems 
even to confirm the common error with regard to the Lord's nature, as, in re- 
presenting to R. the tenor of his instructions to the spirits of the moon and of 
the planet Venus. Since he was not permitted to reform her faith, his com- 
munications must of course be adapted to, and so, seem to confirm, the 
views she had been taught from infancy. — Translator. 

Speaking with spirits, but rarely with angels of heaven, is still given, 
and has been given for many ages back ; but where it is given, they speak 
with man in his mother tongue, yet only a few words ; but they who 
speak from permission of the Lord, never speak anything which takes 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 211 

were saved."* He asks also of the conditions of Antistes 
Hess and of Reinhard. " Albert says, that both are in a high 
degree of happiness ; that Reinhard, in particular, is a very 
pious, pure spirit ; that he has borne his name with honor ; that 
they are in the place where Lavater has his abode ; that this man, 
also, has done vast good that will work on to eternity." You 
said, on the fifth of April, that C. had another name in the 
world you then inhabited. C. wishes to know what it is. " He 
is called here Facuidus." Has this name a sense, a meaning? 
u Yes, like all names in the upper world. This name imports 
the exhortation : « Be firm and strong. ' " But what higher 
import has the name of Albert ? " My Albert told me, at the 
very first, that he had another name, whose meaning was ; * Let 
thy soul be pure V — but that, if the name of Albert pleased me, I 
should call him so." What is the sound of Albert's name in 
the higher world 1 " It is called Almador. (A pause.) Now* 
I must look once more into your stomach. (She lays her left 



away freedom of reason, nor teach ; for the Lord alone teaches man, but 
mediately through the word in illustration, which is treated of in what 
follows ; that it is so, has been given to know from my own experience ; 
I have had speech with spirits and with angels now for many years, neither 
has any spirit dared, nor any angel wished, to tell me any thing, still less 
to instruct me concerning any things in the word, or concerning any doc* 
trinals from the word, but tfte Lord alone has taught me. — D. P. 135, 

The ninth law of the Divine Providence is, that the Lord doth not im- 
mediately teach man truths, either from Himself or by the angels, but that 
He teaches mediately by the word, by preaching, by reading, by dis- 
course, and by communication with others, and thus by consideration in 
private of what is taught ; and that man in this case, is enlightened 
according to the affection of truth grounded in use ; otherwise man would 
not act as of himself. These things follow as consequences from the law 
of the Divine Providence before explained, namely, from these, that man 
is in freedom, and acts what he acts from reason ; also, that from under- 
standing he should think as from himself, and hence from the will should 
do good as from himself ; and further, that he is not to be compelled by mira- 
cles or by visions to believe any thing, or to do any thing. These laws are 
immutable^ because they are of the divine wisdom, and at the same time of 
the divine love, and yet they would be disturbed, if man was to be imme- 
diately taught either by influx or by discourse. — A.E. 1173. 

* When my eyes have been opened for me, it has sometimes been 
granted me to see how immense, even now, is the multitude of men who 
are there ; it is so great that it can scarcely be numbered — such myriads 
are there, and that only in one place, towards one quarter ; what, then, 
must the numbers be towards the other quarters * Whence it is evident 
that the natural world, the abode of men on earth, cannot be compared 
with that world, as regards the multitude of the human race ; so that when 
man passes from the natural w T orld into the spiritual, it is like going from a 
village into a mighty city. — L. I. 27. 



212 HISTORY OF THE CASE. 

hand on it, and says :) Ah, it is in a very good state. Pursue 
your mode of life, as you are accustomed to it, and you need 
not be apprehensive. Albert advises you to apply leeches oc- 
casionally to the place your physician has indicated ; and says 
that this is necessary from time to time. M. has a mind to try 
bathing ; it is good for her ; only let her use cold bathing, perhaps 
in Kawnstadt or Tubingen ; but Albert says that she ought to 
do immediately what she means to do this year, that it is full 
time. ,, She further wishes your Albert's advice about her 
trembling. Albert says, there is no remedy for this ; but that 
it is a thing of little consequence." How can the pain which 
the wife of Dr. H. of S. suffers in her eyes be relieved 1 Al- 
bert says that her disease is not properly an ocular affection, 
but a general disease of the nerves, which it is very difficult to 
remove. She must not take medicines, that they only hurt her ; 
but that she can alleviate the affection, which attacks different 
parts at different times, by continual rest of soul and body. 
Her eyes, which are suffering just at present, she may 
strengthen by looking for some time, early in the morning, be- 
fore it grows hot and before breakfast, immediately after waking, 
on the shadowy green of the meadows. But she must at the 
same time clothe herself warmly, and avoid the wet of the dew 
as much as possible, as also the view of sunny spots ; that the 
eyes are peculiarly susceptible of being strengthened by the 
green of the meadows, immediately after waking." Can you 
say nothing about the state of her son, O. ] " Albert says, that 
if he is treated as carefully and judiciously for years, as he has 
been hitherto, he will, by God's blessing, get entirely well ; that 
his disease, however, is tedious and dangerous, and that there is 
no possible means, at his age, of curing such a disease at once, 
inasmuch as it is founded in his natural, bodily constitution." 
(A pause, during which she looks for a long time in the direc- 
tion of Albert's position.) What are you looking at so fixedly ] 
11 1 cannot satisfy myself with looking at Albert. He now 
promises you again, that he will appear to you, as soon as you 
can bear it, in a vivid dream. He will also strengthen you 
again in the church on Sunday. He says you will still possess, 
for seven months yet, a kind of magnetic influence over me ; 
that merely laying your hand on me, however, will no longer 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 213 

suffice to put me to sleep, and that you must never make passes 
over me ; that I would, thereby, as you know, be greatly in- 
jured. Slight indispositions coming on would always be q.uickly 
removed in this period, if I could be near you, by simply laying 
your hand upon me. (A pause. Suddenly she starts, and 
cries :) O God !" What ails you 1 " Albert, my Albert an- 
nounces to me that he must now leave me. (She weeps so vio- 
lently that she breaks out into sobbing.) O Albert, do not 
leave me ! Stay with me ! (She weeps a long time, extending 
her arms all the while towards Albert. At length she seems 
to be somewhat pacified, saying after a few minutes :) I cannot 
change it, only never leave me altogether, my Albert ; continue 
still to lead me. Thanks to you for your help, your protection. 
Be with me when it goes hard with me. Warn, impel me, and 
when at last my days are ended, conduct me to my Creator, to 
my Redeemer, who has committed me to your care. To you 
also, beloved Amandus, I give my thanks for your visits, which 
have always afforded me joy. While yet in the world, you 
loved me, and now, in higher light, your love has not forgotten 
me ; thanks to thee therefor. God grant that, a pure spirit 
myself, I may hereafter see you again in joy. (A pause.) Oh, 
Albert, I shall miss you painfully ! (She weeps.) Alas, you 
take leave of me ! (To me :) He takes leave of us both. He 
says to you, that he will be near you hereafter also, as often as 
it is permitted him ; that he loves you, and hopes you will con- 
tinue worthy of his love. O God ! Now — now — he leaves 
us ; I shall see him no more. (She stretches her arms after 
him weeping.) Oh, farewell, good Albert, farewell ! (She 
looks after him.) Once more he looks back in a friendly man- 
ner towards us. Amandus attends him. (A pause.) So the 
disciples of the Lord must have felt, when He rose before their 
eyes to Heaven. Neither could they comprehend that it was 
for their good. So is it now with me. (A short pause.) And 
now, we too, dear friend, must part. Farewell, then. Never 
will I forget what you have done for me. Perpetually will I 
think of you with love and gratitude — God bless you ! yes, God 
bless you." (After these words she awoke spontaneously, after 
a slight convulsive movement, about half-past ten o'clock.) 



HISTORY OF THE CASE. 



From this time R. was quite well, not the slightest relapse 
into her oppressions or spasms, did she have again. The Cat? - 
menia were regular, and, for a year, unaccompanied with the 
slightest inconveniences. My magnetic influence on her was 
so slight, as I convinced myself so early as the 8th of July, 
that she had no unusual sensation when I laid my hand on her, 
and showed no disposition even to sleep. Magnetic passes I 
did not venture to make. On one occasion, when she met with 
an extremely violent shock to her feelings, two years after- 
wards, she fell unexpectedly into a cataleptic state, which lasted 
several hours, and ended with clairvoyance. Some months 
subsequently, on a similar occasion, the same attack was re- 
peated with the same circumstances. From that time, also, 
the Catamenia were attended, for some months, with slight in- 
conveniences. For the rest, these consequences were only 
temporary. She soon recovered entirely, and is now enjoy- 
ing the best of health, with the prospect of remaining exempt, 
for the future, from all magnetic attacks.* 



* Those who have perused the preceding pages with a candid mind can 
now judge, how far they constitute a fair call upon them to examine the 
claims of the New Jerusalem Church — a fair calif or examination, it is said, 
not any proper proof of the system in question. The translator is desirous 
to be understood aright on this point by those who are willing to do him jus- 
tice, and to make those who will be disposed to misrepresenthim do it in the 
face of an explicit statement. He begs leave, therefore, to say, that he 
does'not mean to argue the truth of the New Church doctrine directly from 
the case here presented, or any one of the like kind, but, on the contrary, 
believes, that it is unlawful to draw religous doctrines from this source, 
and that the attempt to do so will lead, in any case where it is made, to the 
mostserious delusions — that the proper use, in his opinion, to be made of these 
instances of intercourse withthe higher world is, either to confirm truths which 
have been previously embraced from the only source of any truth what- 
ever, namely, the Word — or, to present such truths to those who have 
not yet embraced them with a certain likelihood of reality, that so they may 
be led to inquire, whether they are or are not to be found in the Sacred 
Scripture, rightly understood. This last is his sole aim in the present work. 
He is certain that he will not be successful in U with the many, but has 
hope that a few will be led by his effort to test, in a candid, prolonged and 
comprehensive investigation, the remarkable system promulged by Swe- 
denborg with the claim of a divine origin, and especially to take up that 
point, which, rather than the disclosures he has made respecting the spi- 
ritual world, is the main point to be settled in the case — the existence in 
the Word of a spiritual sense — such a spiritual sense as Swedenborg pro- 



HISTC 



ISTOItY OF THE CASE. 215 



fesses. to demonstrate. The appeal is to those who are sincerely in quest 
of religous truth, and must therefore be made in vain to all who are so 
thoroughly persuaded of their respective systems, as to be hampered by a 
false conscience and turned from the very thought of looking at any op- 
posite one. Such have no real love of truth, however they may think to 
the contrary. For he who really loves truth is ever looking out for it, or, 
at the least, stands ready to receive it when it comes — as knowing, that 
all truth is from the Lord alone, and that to seek and follow truth is the only 
possible way of seeking and following Him. To persons of this latter class, 
the investigation is earnestly commended, with the assurance that they 
will find their progress in it like the course of one whose journey leads 
him from the mists of some low valley to the mountain top—a continual 
acquisition of clearer light, of wider prospect, and of more genial respi- 
ration. 



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